We study the 4H-SiC/SiO2 interface by using thermally stimulated current (TSC) measurements and find an extremely high density of shallow traps near the conduction band edge at the SiC/SiO2 interface (> 10(13) cm(-2)). The TSC spectra reveal two distinguishable peaks and using various charging temperatures we show that the charging mechanism for the traps responsible for the high-temperature TSC peak (at about 140 K) is thermally activated. Similar TSC spectra are observed in differently prepared thermal oxides.