Understanding detailed avalanche mechanisms is critical for design optimization of avalanche photodiodes[APDs].In this work,avalanche characteristics and single photon counting performance of 4H-SiC n-i-p and p-i-n APDs are compared.By studying the evolution of breakdown voltage as a function of incident light wavelength,it is confirmed that at the deep ultraviolet[UV]wavelength region the avalanche events in 4H-SiC n-i-p APDs are mainly induced by hole-initiated ionization,while electron-initiated ionization is the main cause of avalanche breakdown in 4H-SiC p-i-n APDs.Meanwhile,at the same dark count rate,the single photon counting efficiency of n-i-p APDs is considerably higher than that of p-i-n APDs.The higher performance of n-i-p APDs can be explained by the larger impact ionization coefficient of holes in 4H-SiC.In addition,this is the first time,to the best of our knowledge,to report single photon detection performance of vertical 4H-SiC n-i-p-n APDs.