Patent ID: 8859387

Claim:
A method for manufacturing a silicon carbide semiconductor device comprising the steps of: preparing a silicon carbide substrate having a first main surface and a second main surface opposite to said first main surface; and forming an electrode on said first main surface, said silicon carbide substrate having a hexagonal crystal structure, said first main surface having an off angle of ±8° or smaller relative to a {0001} plane, said first main surface having such a property that when irradiated with excitation light having energy equal to or greater than a band gap of silicon carbide, luminous regions in a wavelength range of 750 nm or greater are generated in said first main surface at a density of 1×10 4 cm −2 or smaller, wherein the step of preparing said silicon carbide substrate includes a step of measuring the density of said luminous regions in the wavelength range of 750 nm or greater in said first main surface while irradiating said first main surface with the excitation light having the energy equal to or greater than the band gap of silicon carbide.