                                                       !"  # $% # "" " #   Using several types of surface analysis (Optical profilometers (OP), Atomic Force Microscopies (AFM), Scanning Electron Microscopies (SEM) and cross-sectional high-resolution Transmission Electron Microscopies (TEM)) we analyze the surface morphologies of misoriented 4H silicon carbide after pre-growth hydrogen etching and homo-epitaxial growths. We observed the characteristic self-ordering of nano-facets on any analyzed surface. This nano-faceting, which should not be confused with step bunching, can be considered as a close-to-equilibrium instability, for this reason can be hindered .  Step-and-terrace structures are widely observed on mis-oriented crystal surfaces after thermal treatment, epitaxial growth or etching under suitable conditions. Various interesting phenomena related to step-and-terrace structures such as faceting[1], step bunching[2,3] and step meandering are known to occur due to a, far to be fully understood, competition between several mechanisms such as step kinetics, surface diffusion, step stiffness, step–step interactions, and so on [4,5]. All these surface instabilities are of great interest from a viewpoint of not only crystal growth but also electronic engineering, because device performance is affected by ‘‘micro- roughness’’ at a junction interface or surface. Specifically, this phenomenon, is crucial in high- power devices where the rough junction interface causes electric field crowding, resulting in the reduction of blocking voltages. The surface roughness also negatively impacts the channel mobility or the oxide breakdown characteristics in metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistors MOSFETs or will strongly affects the electrical properties of graphene epitaxially grown on SiC. For this reasons a deep understanding of the surface morphologies is necessary to correctly link the nano-and micro-structure of the crystal with the growth quality and post-treatment effects. In this work we have investigated the surface morphology of etched and epitaxially grown misoriented 4H silicon carbide using SEM, optical profilometers, AFM and TEM. We found that what was previously considered as step bunching is rather a nano-faceting of the step-and-terrace morphology that leads to periodic oscillations of the step density and, thus, to nano ondulations of the surface.  Fig.1shows the surface morphology of a CMP polished 4H-SiC substrate after pre-growth hydrogen etching (T>1500º) using an optical profilometer (OP). Long parallel and isolated lines can be easily seen on the surface. These lines, which are several hundreds of micron long, can be recognized, using the height profile (Fig.1), as macro-steps. Materials Science Forum Vols. 679-680 (2011) pp 358-361 Online available since 2011/Mar/28 at www.scientific.net © (2011) Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland doi:10.4028/www.scientific.net/MSF.679-680.358 All rights reserved. No part of contents of this paper may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the written permission of TTP, www.ttp.net. (ID: 192.167.161.20, CNR Area della Ricerca, Bologna, Italy-03/05/13,13:36:31)