The effects of ion irradiation defects on the carrier concentration of 6H-SiC epitaxial layer were studied by current–voltage (I–V), capacitance.-voltage (C–V) measurements, thermally stimulated capacitance and deep level transient spectroscopy. The defects were produced by irradiation with 10 MeV C+ at a fluence of 1011 ions/cm2 and subsequent thermal annealings were carried out in the temperature range 500–1700 K under N2 flux.I–V and C–V measurements reveal the presence of a high defect concentration after irradiation and annealing at temperature lower than 1000 K. Thermally stimulated capacitance measurements show that some of the defects induce a deactivation of the nitrogen donor, while some of the generated defects, behaving as donor-like traps, contribute to increase the material free carrier concentration at temperatures above their freezing point.Deep level …