The possible device performance-limiting defects in SiC epilayers include crystallographic defects in the epilayer and surface morphological defects on the episurface. This study will present a nondestructive SiC defect characterization method, based on the principle of polarized light microscopy (PLM), that can perform rapid and in-depth defect evaluation on a wafer scale. The newly-developed PLM technique has been successfully expanded to characterize crystallographic defects and related surface morphological defects (growth pits) in SiC epi-films. Using AFM and PLM, various surface morphological defects on the SiC epilayer surface were revealed.