Optical Kerr nonlinearity in a high-Q silicon carbide microresonator

We demonstrate a high-Q amorphous silicon carbide (a-SiC) microresonator with optical Q as high as 1.3 × 10(5). The high optical quality allows us to characterize the third-order nonlinear susceptibility of a-SiC. The Kerr nonlinearity is measured to be n2 = (5.9 ± 0.7) × 10(−15) cm(2)/W in the telecom band around 1550 nm. The strong Kerr nonlinearity and high optical quality render a-SiC microresonators a promising platform for integrated nonlinear photonics.