SiC polycrystalline was grown by a spontaneous nucleation sublimation method. The microstructures of SiC polycrystalline were observed by transmission electron microscopy. It was found that SiC polycrystalline has highly preferential orientation with the (0001) plane lying on the growth surface and there are only small misorientations among different grains. A great number of stacking faults were observed in the SiC polycrystalline film. These stacking faults were tilted to the film surface with different angles. Based on the extinction rule, the properties of the stacking faults were determined. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.