Gallium oxide (beta-Ga2O3) nanoparticles were successfully deposited on quartz glass substrates using sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl) sulfosuccinate (AOT)/n-hexane/ethylene glycol monomethyl ether (EGME) reverse micelle-mediated solvothermal process with different w values. The mean diameter of Ga2O3 particles was similar to 2-3 nm and found to be approximately independent of w values of the reverse micelles. However, when the Ga2O3 nanocrystalline films were nitrided at 900 degrees C under flowing NH3 atmosphere for I h, the mean diameter of the resulted gallium nitride (wurtzite-GaN) nanoparticles varied from 3-9 nm. Both nanocrystalline films of Ga2O3 and GaN were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, UV-vis spectroscopy and photoluminescence in order to study their chemical and physical properties explicitly. (c) 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.