In this paper, an Al-Ti contact preparation method is described on 6H-SiC wafers. The Al and Ti were both separately deposited and co-deposited onto Si --> C polarized (0 0 0 (1) over bar) C and C --> Si polarized (0 0 0 1) Si faces of SiC substrate by dc magnetron sputtering. The samples were annealed at 1000 degreesC in N-2 atmosphere. The phase and morphology of the formed contacts were investigated by transmission electron microscopy. The formed contacts clearly showed polarity dependence on SiC substrate. When the SiC substrate was Si --> C polarized the binary Al3Ti phase generated. When it was C Si polarized the ternary Ti3SiC2 formed along with the Al3Ti resulting in a bilayered contact structure. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.