The employment of more than 10 mu m thick AlN epilayers on SiC substrates for AlGaN/GaN high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) substantially raises their performance in high-power energy-efficient amplifiers for 4G wireless mobile stations. In this paper, structural properties and surface morphology of thick AlN epilayers deposited by hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) on off-axis conductive 6H-SiC substrates are reported. The epilayers were examined in detail by high-resolution X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), Nomarski differential interference contrast (DIC), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and selective wet chemical etching. At optimal substrate preparation and growth conditions, a full width at half-maximum (FWHM) of the XRD rocking curve (RC) for the symmetric (00.2) reflex was very close to that of the substrate (less than 40 arcsec) suggesting low screw dislocation density in the epilayer (similar to 10(6) cm(-2)) and small in-plane tilt misorientation. Reciprocal space mapping around asymmetric reflexes and measured lattice parameters indicated a fully relaxed state of the epilayers. The unit-cell-high stepped areas of the epilayers with 0.5 nm root mean square (RMS) roughness over 1 x 1 mu m(2) scan were alternated with step-bunching instabilities up to 350 nm in height. Low warp of the substrates makes them suitable for precise epitaxy of HEMT structures. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.