It is found that single crystals of silicon carbide exposed to soft X rays exhibit luminescence in the visible spectral range. The luminescence intensity from the single crystals produced by different methods differs by three- to fivefold. Also, the emission intensity is nonuniformly distributed over the single crystal surface, which may be related to the nonuniform distribution of impurities (activators). (C) 2004 MAIK "Nauka/Interperiodica".