A recombination center is formed within the bandgap of at least a silicon carbide material used to form an n− drift layer in a SiC-MOSFET. This recombination center is an impurity level formed by doping the n− drift layer with boron (B) or the like and/or a defect level constituted by defects formed by irradiating the n− drift layer with an electron beam. Due to the presence of this recombination center, the effective bandgap Eg1 of the silicon carbide material of the n− drift layer is set to be narrower than the original bandgap Eg0 and less than the valence band offset ΔEV0 of a silicon carbide/insulating film interface. As a result, the photon energy created by recombination of electrons and holes while a body diode of the SiC-MOSFET is conducting current in a forward direction is less than the valence band offset ΔEV0 of the silicon carbide/insulating film interface.