Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was used to investigate Al ion-implanted 4H-SiC epilayers. A set of annealing experiments were performed to study the evolution of dislocation loops in the implanted region. It was concluded that the dislocation loops evolve according to the extended Ostwald ripening model for small planar precipitates. The activation energy for loop growth was determined to be 2.8 eV.