SnO2 films have been deposited on 6H-SiC (0 0 0 1) substrates by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition in the temperature range 500-750 degrees C. X-ray diffraction analysis showed that all the films were highly (1 0 0) oriented with the tetragonal rutile structure. Based on the structure analysis, we propose a growth model that SnO2 films consist of three variant structures with equivalent in-plane orientations. The in-plane orientation relationship between SnO2 and 6H-SiC was determined to be SnO2 [0 1 0]//SiC <1 0 <(1)over bar> 0> and SnO2 [0 0 1]//SiC <1 <(2)over bar> 1 0 >. As the substrate temperature increased from 500 to 750 degrees C, the carrier concentration decreased from 1.1 x 10(20) to 1.6 x 10(18) cm(-3) while the resistivity increased from 0.01 to 0.57 Omega cm. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.