In this letter, we report on the investigation of Si/Pt Ohmic contacts top-type 4H–SiC. The contacts were formed by a vacuum annealing method at 1100&hthinsp;°C for 3 min, which resulted in specific contact resistivities in the low10−4 &OHgr;&hthinsp;cm2range. Auger analysis has shown that, at this anneal temperature, there was a uniform intermixing of the Si and Pt, migration of Pt into the SiC, and out-diffusion of C into the metallization layers. Overlayers of Au or Ni/Au on Si/Pt had the effect of decreasing the specific contact resistance and improving the surface morphology of the annealed contacts. ©1998 American Institute of Physics.