Abstract Acrylic fibers, stabilized acrylic fibers, and graphite fibers have been selectively etched by ion bombardment. After ion etching, the fibers are characterized by structures oriented transverse to the fiber axis with an average spacing ranging from 500 to 3000 A. These transverse structures are considered to be representative of structural inhomogeneities in the fibers, which are transmitted from the precursor fiber through the stabilization treatment to the final carbon fibers. The relation between these heterogeneities and the standard microstructura! models of carbon fibers remains to be elucidated satisfactorily.