Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) and secondary electron emission has been used to determine how thin monolayer films of Re and Nb grow on the 4H-SiC(000 1) C-face and 4H-SiC (0001) Si-face surfaces at room temperature. The secondary electron emission was monitored by the crystal current (SEECC) method and compared to the change in Auger electron peak-to-peak intensities for both substrate and adsorbate. On the 4H-SiC (0001) Si-face, both metals first form a single monolayer followed by growth of simultaneous monolayers MSM mode). On the 4H-SiC(0001) C-face, both metals grow layer-by-layer (Frank-van der Merwe, FM mode).