Results of carrier lifetime studies in low-doped epitaxial4HSiC layers are reported. The free carrier absorption (FCA) technique was applied to extract carrier lifetime parameters and their spatial distribution in a wide photoexcitation range. The FCA magnitude is shown to scale linearly with the photoinjected carrier concentration, while the absorption cross section increases according to a&lgr;4.4law for near infrared wavelengths. High spatial resolution carrier lifetime mapping of large4HSiC areas revealed features related to structural imperfections of epilayers. Finally, a density dependent fast lifetime component was observed at high injection levels and attributed to band-to-band Auger recombination. ©1997 American Institute of Physics.