chapter 1 Objectives and state-of-the-art of nanocomposites / chapter 2 Laser synthesis of nanosized powders -- Michel Cauchetier, Emmanuel Musset, Michel Luce, Nathalie Herlin, Xavier Armand andMartineMayne / part 3 Thermal behaviour of as-formed silicon-based nanopowders -- General -- chapter 3 1 Thermal behaviour in a high-temperature graphite furnace -- Emmanuel Musset, MartineMayne, Michel Cauchetier, Xavier Armand, Michel Luce Nathalie Herlin-Boime / chapter 3 2 Thermal reactivity of silicon-based nanopowders -- Djamila Bahloul-Hourlier, Beno�t Doucey, Jean-Louis Besson Goursat / chapter 4 Structure of some nanopowders and micro/nano composites by transmission electron microscopy -- MarcMonthioux, Catherine B�raud Nahida / part 5 From short- to long-range order / chapter 5 1 Chemical order studied by solid-state nuclearmagnetic resonance / chapter 5 2 Paramagnetic defect states in silicon-based nanopowders -- Abdelhadi Kassiba St�phane Charpentier / chapter 5 3 Electronic structure studied by X-ray photoemission (XPS) and soft-X-ray (SXS) spectroscopies -- Adriana Gheorghiu Georges Dufour, Fran�ois T�n�gal Christiane S�n�maud / chapter 5 4 Local order in Si/C/N nanopowders studied by X-ray absorption spectroscopy -- Fran�ois T�n�gal, Anne-Marie Flank, Adriana Gheorghiu-de Christiane S�n�maud / chapter 5 5 Neutron andX-ray diffraction applied to the study of themedium-range order in SiCN nanopowders -- Fran�ois T�n�gal, Brigitte Bouchet-Fabre, Dixmier Robert Bellissent / chapter 6 Conductivity and dielectric properties of Si/C nanopowders / chapter 7 Processing and tailoring of Si/C/N-based nanocomposites / chapter 8 Mechanical properties / chapter 9 Theoretical investigations of Si/C/N-based alloys