Scalable integration of silicon nanophotonic devices on silicon carbide substrates

Abstract

Silicon carbide has emerged as a promising material for on-chip quantum and nonlinear nanophotonic devices. In addition to its excellent optical, electrical, and material properties, silicon carbide hosts optically active color centers and has a large intrinsic second-order nonlinear susceptibility. Here, we present a scalable, on-chip approach toward CMOS-compatible silicon-on-silicon carbide hybrid platforms via direct wafer bonding. Our optimized bonding method yields large-area, defect-free, uniform films with minimal oxide at the silicon-silicon carbide interface. By etching crystalline silicon nanophotonic waveguides and ring resonators into the silicon layer of the heterogenous film with well-established silicon fabrication methods that do not deteriorate the silicon carbide, we are able to fabricate high-quality, near-infrared resonators. This wafer scalable hybrid photonics platform could be an important step towards silicon carbide quantum technologies.