Exciton-polariton state in nanocrystalline SiC films

• Research of optical resonance absorption in films of nanocrystalline SiC.
• It shows that maximum position and intensity of absorption depends on the structure and thickness of the nc-SiC films.
• Resonance absorption model based on excitation of exciton polaritons in a microcavity has been proposed.

We studied the features of optical absorption in the films of nanocrystalline SiC (nc-SiC) obtained on the sapphire substrates by the method of direct ion deposition. The optical absorption spectra of the films with a thickness less than ~500 nm contain a maximum which position and intensity depend on the structure and thickness of the nc-SiC films. The most intense peak at 2.36 eV is observed in the nc-SiC film with predominant 3C-SiC polytype structure and a thickness of 392 nm. Proposed is a resonance absorption model based on excitation of exciton polaritons in a microcavity. In the latter, under the conditions of resonance, there occurs strong interaction between photon modes of light with λph=521 nm and exciton of the 3С polytype with an excitation energy of 2.36 eV that results in the formation of polariton. A mismatch of the frequencies of photon modes of the cavity and exciton explains the dependence of the maximum of the optical absorption on the film thickness.