Photonic crystal cavities in cubic (3C) polytype silicon carbide films

We present the design, fabrication, and characterization of high quality factor (Q similar to 10(3)) and small mode volume (V similar to 0.75 (lambda/n)(3)) planar photonic crystal cavities from cubic (3C) thin films (thickness similar to 200 nm) of silicon carbide (SiC) grown epitaxially on a silicon substrate. We demonstrate cavity resonances across the telecommunications band, with wavelengths from 1.25 - 1.6 mu m. Finally, we discuss possible applications in nonlinear optics, optical interconnects, and quantum information science. (C) 2013 Optical Society of America