Fast homoepitaxial growth of 4H-SiC has been carried out on 8 degrees off-axis (0001)(si) substrates by horizontal hot-wall chemical vapor deposition (CVD) at 1650 degrees C. Growth at low pressure, by which gas-phase Si condensation can be minimized, has made it possible to obtain mirror-like surface at high growth rate up to 50 mu m/h. Epilayers grown on chemical mechanically polished (CMP) substrates show much better surface morphology than those on as-received substrates. The basal-plane dislocation (BPD) density can be decreased by fast epitaxy on CMP substrates, and the minimum BPD density obtained in this study is 22 cm(-2). The concentration Of Z(1/2) and EH6/7 centers is in the low 10(12)cm(-3) range even at high growth rate of 50 mu m/h. In photoluminescence (PL), free exciton peaks are remarkably dominant, and inipurity-related peaks and L-1 peak are hardly observed. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.