In this paper, a novel planar high-voltage normally-off 4H-SiC vertical JFET (P-VJFET) is proposed and modeled by way of two-dimensional numerical simulations. The proposed P-VJFET is based on the monolithic combination of a low voltage lateral JFET (LJFET) and a high voltage vertical JFET. By designing the LJFET to be normally-off, the P-VJFET becomes a normally-off switch without requiring a submicron vertical channel opening which is difficult to achieve by photolithographic means, coupled with the need of multi-MeV ion implantation. The P-VJFETs DC and switching characteristics are investigated at 300 and 600 K. A structure with a 12 mum 6.8 x 10(15) cm(-3) doped drift layer is simulated, showing blocking voltages of 1644 and 1928 V with specific on-resistances of 4.8 and 19.6 mOmega cm(2) at 300 and 600 K, respectively. With a dV(G)/dt rate of 1 x 10(8) V/s, the normally-off P-VJFET is able to switch a drain current density of 100 A/cm(2) with a turn-on time of 24 ns and a turn-off time of 40 ns. Since there is no gate oxide/insulator, the proposed normally-off P-VJFET is expected to be advantageous in comparison to MOSFET-based SiC power switches for high temperature operation. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.