High-Q silicon carbide photonic-crystal cavities

We demonstrate one-dimensional photonic-crystal nanobeam cavities in amorphous silicon carbide. The fundamental mode exhibits intrinsic optical quality factor as high as 7.69 × 10⁴ with mode volume ∼ 0.60 ^{( λ / n ) 3} at wavelength 1.5 μm. A corresponding Purcell factor value of ∼10⁴ is the highest reported to date in silicon carbide optical cavities. The device exhibits great potential for integrated nonlinear photonics and cavity nano-optomechanics.