Investigation of the electro-optic effect in high-$Q$ 4H-SiC microresonators

TL;DR

This paper explores the electro-optic Pockels effect in high-Q 4H-SiC microresonators, confirming its existence and measuring the Pockels coefficients, which vary across different wafers, indicating potential for photonic applications.

Contribution

First experimental confirmation of the Pockels effect in 4H-SiC microresonators and measurement of its coefficients across different wafers.

Findings

Confirmed the Pockels effect in 4H-SiC for the first time

Measured Pockels coefficients ranging from 0.3 to 0.7 pm/V for r13

Observed variations in coefficients among wafers from different manufacturers

Abstract

Silicon carbide (SiC) recently emerged as a promising photonic and quantum material owing to its unique material properties. Here, we carry out an exploratory investigation of the electro-optic effect in high-quality-factor 4H-SiC microresonators. Our findings confirm the existence of the Pockels effect in 4H-SiC for the first time. The extracted Pockels coefficients show certain variations among 4H-SiC wafers from different manufacturers, with the magnitudes of $r_{13}$ and $r_{33}$ estimated to be in the range of (0.3-0.7) pm/V and (0-0.03) pm/V, respectively.