High efficiency four wave mixing and optical bistability in amorphous silicon carbide ring resonators

Abstract

We demonstrate high efficiency wavelength conversion via four wave mixing in amorphous silicon carbide ring resonators with a loaded quality factor of 70 000. Owing to the high quality factor and high nonlinearity of amorphous silicon carbide, −21 dB conversion efficiency is achieved with 15 mW pump power. Moreover, the thermo-optic coefficient (TOC) of amorphous silicon carbide is measured to be 1.4 × 10−4/°C at telecommunication wavelengths. Taking advantage of the high TOC, we demonstrate optical bistability in the silicon carbide ring resonator. This work presents amorphous silicon carbide as a promising platform for applications in optical signal processing.