Silicon carbide is an ideal material for advanced electronics, military, and aerospace applications due to its superior physical and chemical properties. In order to understand the effect of crystal anisotropy of 4H-SiC on its processability, nanoindentation and nanoscratch tests on various crystallographic planes and orientations were performed and the results outlined in this paper. The results show that the C-plane of 4H-SiC is more rigid, while the Si-plane is more elastic and ductile. Better surface quality may be obtained on the Si-plane in nanoscale abrasive machining. The maximum lateral force, maximum residual depth of the scratch, and maximum crack width on the C- and Si-planes of 4H-SiC are significantly periodic in crystallographic orientations at 30° intervals. The scratch along the <112¯0> direction is more prone to crack expansion, and better machined surface quality is easy to obtain along the <101¯0> directions of C- and Si-planes.
Keywords: 4H-SiC; anisotropy; morphologies; nanoindentation and scratch tests; scratches.