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The conversion of basal plane dislocations (BPDs) is investigated in the epitaxial growth of 4° off-axis SiC by three approaches: (1) regular growth on untreated substrates, (2) growth on pre-etched substrates and (3) growth-etch-regrowth approach. In the regular growth, ∼99.0% of the substrate BPDs are converted to threading edge dislocations (TEDs) in the vicinity of the epilayer/substrate interface and the rest ∼1.0% BPDs are converted throughout the ∼20μm thick epilayer. A modified KOH–NaOH–MgO eutectic mixture is developed to mildly etch the substrate in approach (2) or a grown buffer-layer in approach (3) to enhance BPD conversion rate. In the subsequent epitaxial growth, the BPD conversion rate near the interface is enhanced up to 99.9% in approach (2) and to 100% in approach (3). Using the modified KOH–NaOH–MgO eutectic mixture, very mild etching of the surfaces (substrate or buffer-layer …