Nano-sized aluminum nitride (AIN) powders can enhance the sinterability of AIN ceramics. The present work examined the pulverization and dispersion of AIN powder using ZrO2 beads of 0.1 mm in diameter as grinding medium in order to obtain nanosized powder for low-temperature sintering. An attracting feature of the bead grinding is that the rotor creates centrifugal and shearing forces, which lead to efficient pulverization that exceeds the conventional grinding limit. The AIN powder with agglomerates and average particle size of 0.38 mu m was broken up into more homogeneous particles with a narrow particle size distribution after 90 min of grinding. Qualitative examinations of the powder by transmission electron microscopy and BET indicated that the particle size was 50-100 nm and specific surface area was 70 m(2)/g.