Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and high-resolution electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) has been employed to study the microstructure development of < 111 >-oriented beta-SiC films prepared by laser chemical vapor deposition (LCVD) with various total pressure (P-tot). The Surface morphology of films evolved from pyramids with sixfold symmetry to needlelike structure by increasing the P-tot. The EBSD results indicated that the higher P-tot (800 Pa) led to the lower neighbor-pair misorientation and large in-plane domains in beta-SiC films.