Silicon carbide for integrated photonics

Photonic integrated circuits (PICs) based on lithographically patterned waveguides provide a scalable approach for manipulating photonic bits, enabling seminal demonstrations of wide range technologies with desired complexity and stability. While the next generation applications such as ultra-high speed optical transceivers, neuromorphic computing terabit-scale communications demand further lower power consumption higher operating frequency. Complementing leading silicon-based material platforms, third-generation semiconductor, silicon carbide (SiC), offers significant opportunity toward advanced development PICs in terms its broadest functionalities, including bandgap, high nonlinearities, refractive index, controllable artificial spin defects complementary metal oxide semiconductor-compatible fabrication process. The superior properties SiC have enabled plethora nano-photonic explorations, waveguides, micro-cavities, nonlinear frequency converters optically-active defects. This remarkable progress has prompted rapid both classical quantum applications. Here, we an overview SiC-based photonics, presenting latest investigating basic optoelectronic properties, well recent developments several typical approaches light confinement structures that form building blocks low-loss, multi-functional industry-compatible platform. Moreover, works employing optically-readable hosts information are also summarized highlighted. As still-developing platform, prospects challenges utilizing platforms field photonics discussed.