Study of Optical Nonlinearity in Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon Carbide Film

Hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide (a-Sic_x:H) films were prepared by glow discharge technique with gas mixture of silane (SiH₄) and methan (CH₄). The room-temperature optical bistability was demonstrated in uncoated a-SiC_x:H films at the excitation wavelength about 532nm. The switch-on intensity of device is about 0.8 MW/cm² and the switching time is in the nanosecond scale. The physical origin of the optical nonlin5arity in these materials is also discussed.