The properties of oxides grown on p-type 4H-SiC in N2O by rapid thermal processing (RTP) have been investigated as a function of the growth conditions. The impact of the oxidation temperature and time has been evaluated first in terms of quantitative nitrogen profile analysis by TOF-SIMS measurements, and in terms of traps control at the SiO2/p-type 4H-SiC interface by C-Vmeasurements. It has been found that the effect of the UV radiations induced by the halogen-lamps leads to an enhancement of the nitridation kinetics by one order of magnitude, and that the passivation of the interface traps varies in a similar way as oxynitridation proceeds and, therefore, is self-limiting. In addition, RTP has been evaluated for the gate oxide formation of lateral p-channel MOSFETs. It has been shown that this innovative oxidation method produces MOSFETs with promising electrical characteristics for a relatively low thermal budget. (C) 2012 The Electrochemical Society. [DOI: 10.1149/2.039205jes] All rights reserved.