High thermo-optic tunability in PECVD silicon-rich amorphous silicon carbide
Abstract
In this work, the thermo-optic coefficient (TOC) of the silicon-rich amorphous silicon carbide (a-SiC) thin film deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) was characterized. We found that the TOC of the film increases as its silicon content increases. A more than threefold improvement in the TOC was measured, reaching a TOC as high as 1.88×10−4∘C−1, which is comparable to that of crystalline silicon. An efficient thermo-optic phase shifter has also been demonstrated by integrating the silicon-rich a-SiC micro-ring structure with a NiCr heater. Tunability of 0.117 nm/mW was demonstrated, and a corresponding tuning efficiency P π as low as 4.2 mW has been measured at an optical wavelength of 1550 nm. These findings make silicon-rich a-SiC a good candidate material for thermo-optic applications in photonic integrated circuits.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Feb 22, 2023
- Source ID
- 10.1364/ol.476644
Entities
People
- Li-Yang Sunny Chang
- Paul K. L. Yu
- Steve Pappert
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- University of California
- University of California, San Diego