Impurity tracer diffusion of 59 Fe, 51 Cr and 57 Co in CVD b-SiC has been studied in the temperature range between 973 and 1873 K. The temperature dependence of the volume diffusion coef®cients of iron and chromium can be expressed by linear Arrhenius equations. The preexponential factor and the activation energy are estimated to be 8.7 £ 10 215 m 2 s 21 and 111 kJ mol 21 for iron, respectively, and 9.5 £ 10 215 m 2 s 21 and 81 kJ mol 21 for chromium, respectively. The diffusion coef®cients of iron and chromium are much higher than those of the self-diffusion in b-SiC. Furthermore, the activation energies for the diffusion of iron and chromium are about one-tenth of those for carbon and silicon in b-SiC. Therefore, it seems that an interstitial mechanism is predominant for the diffusion of iron and chromium in b-SiC. On the other hand, the diffusion coef®cient of cobalt above 1673 K is higher than that of iron, while at lower temperatures it is much lower than that of iron. The difference in the diffusion coef®cients at 1173 K is more than three orders of magnitude. Thus, the temperature dependence of the diffusion coef®cients of cobalt shows a strongly curved Arrhenius relation. This suggests that cobalt atoms diffuse by an interstitial mechanism at higher temperatures and by a substitutional mechanism at lower temperatures. From the deeper regions of the penetration pro®les of iron, chromium and cobalt the dislocation diffusion coef®cients of them have been estimated. q