In this work, adsorption of Ti and Zr on the 6H‐SiC(0001) surface under the oxygen pressure of about 5×10−6 Pa was studied. The topography, the chemical composition and the thermal stability were investigated using the X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). The results show that deposition of titanium oxide onto the SiC surface results in island growth (Volmer–Weber type), which was clearly seen on STM images, whereas Zr oxides adsorb, rather uniformly, in an almost layer‐by‐layer mode. XPS study shows that titanium occurs in different oxidation states, while in case of Zr metallic and dioxide components dominate. (© 2012 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)