A sublimation epitaxial method, referred to as the Closed Space Technique (CST) was adopted to produce thick SiC epitaxial layers for power device applications. We aimed to systematically investigate the dependence of SiC epilayer quality and growth rate during the sublimation growth using the CST method on various process parameters such as the growth temperature and working pressure. The etched surface of a SiC epitaxial layer grown with low growth rate $(30{mu}m/h)$ exhibited low etch pit density (EPD) of ${sim}2000/cm^2$ and a low micropipe density (MPD) of $2/cm^2$. The etched surface of a SiC epitaxial layer grown with high growth rate (above $100{mu}m/h$) contained a high EPD of ${sim}3500/cm^2$ and a high MPD of ${sim}500/cm^2$, which indicates that high growth rate aids the formation of dislocations and micropipes in the epitaxial layer. We also investigated the Schottky barrier diode (SBD) characteristics including a carrier density and depletion layer for Ni/SiC structure and finally proposed a MESFET device fabricated by using selective epilayer process.