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 $1.88 \times {10^{ - 4}}^\circ {\textrm{C}^{ - 1}}$, 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 ${\mathbf{P}_\mathbf{\pi }}$ 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.

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