Optical constants

Refractive index of SiC (Silicon carbide)

Shaffer 1971: β-SiC; n 0.467–0.691 µm

Data: formula 5
Range: 0.467–0.691 µm
State: crystalline
Licence: CC0-1.0

Axis Log x Log y

Click the plot to set the calculator wavelength.

At one wavelength

Refractive index n: 2.65285
Extinction coefficient k: 0

Permittivity ε₁: 7.03762
Permittivity ε₂: 0

Absorption coefficient α: 0 cm⁻¹
Penetration depth δ = λ/(2πk): — nm

Abbe number V_d: 25.308
Chromatic dispersion dn/dλ: -0.33714 µm⁻¹

Group index n_g: 2.85096
Group velocity dispersion: 618.407 fs²/mm

Dispersion parameter D: -3373.74 ps/(nm·km)
Photon energy: 2.11001 eV

ε = (n + ik)², α = 4πk/λ, n_g = n − λ dn/dλ, GVD = λ³/(2πc²) d²n/dλ², D = −(λ/c) d²n/dλ². Group-velocity dispersion is given for formula data only.

Use it in Lightsmith

Load this data in Python, simulate in one more line

pip install lightsmith

import lightsmith as ls

# SiC (Silicon carbide): Shaffer 1971: β-SiC; n 0.467–0.691 µm
sic = ls.fetch_refractiveindex("main", "SiC", "Shaffer", ref="c5c2f188e848453def5970e347399d653df2ffc2")
print(sic.range_nm)  # (467, 691) nm
eps = sic.eps([633])  # complex permittivity

Downloads the original record once (pinned to the imported snapshot) and caches it.

import json, urllib.request
import lightsmith as ls

url = "https://materials.lightsmith.dev/v1/datasets/ds_429184355f21/lightsmith"
sic = ls.Tabulated.model_validate(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(url)))
print(sic.source)  # citation and provenance travel with the data

Any dataset here, as the library's Tabulated material (sic/shaffer-1971).

# ... load sic as above, then:
sim = ls.Simulation(
    particles=[ls.Particle(shape=ls.Sphere(radius_nm=50), material=sic)],
    medium_index=1.0,
    wavelengths=ls.WavelengthRange(start_nm=467, stop_nm=691, num=81),
)
res = ls.solve(sim)  # exact Mie for a sphere
print(res.q_ext)     # extinction efficiency at each wavelength

Same spec runs with DDA, FDTD, BEM or T-matrix: ls.compare(sim, ["mie", "dda"]).

Materials guide Open a sphere of it in Studio Quick start Ask the community

Lightsmith is open source (MIT): Mie, T-matrix, BEM, DDA, FDTD, RCWA, TMM, mode solvers and inverse design behind one spec, on CPU or GPU. GitHub.

Dispersion formula

Cauchy (formula 5), λ in µm

n = 2.5538 + 0.0342 λ^{- 2.0}

Valid from 0.467 to 0.691 µm.

Coefficients as stored

C_i	Value
C1	2.5538
C2	0.0342
C3	-2.0

Comments and conditions

β-SiC (zincblende crystal structure)

References

P. T. B. Shaffer. Refractive index, dispersion, and birefringence of silicon carbide polytypes. Appl. Opt. 10, 1034-1036 (1971)

doi:10.1364/ao.10.001034 Refractive Index, Dispersion, and Birefringence of Silicon Carbide Polytypes, Applied Optics (1971)

Cite

P. T. B. Shaffer. Refractive Index, Dispersion, and Birefringence of Silicon Carbide Polytypes. Applied Optics, 10, 1034 (1971), doi:10.1364/ao.10.001034; Data from the refractiveindex.info database (M. N. Polyanskiy, Sci. Data 11, 94 (2024), doi:10.1038/s41597-023-02898-2)

Data

Computed on 400 wavelengths, the same grid as the API and the library

CSV comma separated TXT tab separated YAML n, k Full database record original YAML All quantities CSV JSON metadata

SiC (Silicon carbide), Shaffer 1971: β-SiC; n 0.467–0.691 µm: n and k versus wavelength
λ (µm)	n
0.467	2.710617
0.467459	2.710309
0.467918	2.710002
0.468378	2.709695
0.468838	2.70939
0.469299	2.709084
0.46976	2.70878
0.470221	2.708476
0.470683	2.708172
0.471146	2.707869
0.471608	2.707567
0.472072	2.707265
0.472536	2.706964
0.473	2.706664
0.473465	2.706364
0.47393	2.706064
0.474395	2.705766
0.474861	2.705467
0.475328	2.70517
0.475795	2.704873
0.476262	2.704576
0.47673	2.704281
0.477199	2.703985
0.477667	2.703691
0.478137	2.703397
0.478607	2.703103
0.479077	2.70281
0.479547	2.702518
0.480019	2.702226
0.48049	2.701935
0.480962	2.701644
0.481435	2.701354
0.481908	2.701065
0.482381	2.700776
0.482855	2.700487
0.483329	2.700199
0.483804	2.699912
0.48428	2.699626
0.484755	2.699339
0.485232	2.699054
0.485708	2.698769
0.486186	2.698484
0.486663	2.698201
0.487141	2.697917
0.48762	2.697634
0.488099	2.697352
0.488579	2.697071
0.489059	2.69679
0.489539	2.696509
0.49002	2.696229
0.490501	2.69595
0.490983	2.695671
0.491466	2.695392
0.491949	2.695114
0.492432	2.694837
0.492916	2.69456
0.4934	2.694284
0.493885	2.694009
0.49437	2.693734
0.494856	2.693459
0.495342	2.693185
0.495829	2.692912
0.496316	2.692639
0.496803	2.692366
0.497291	2.692094
0.49778	2.691823
0.498269	2.691552
0.498758	2.691282
0.499249	2.691012
0.499739	2.690743
0.50023	2.690474
0.500721	2.690206
0.501213	2.689938
0.501706	2.689671
0.502199	2.689405
0.502692	2.689139
0.503186	2.688873
0.50368	2.688608
0.504175	2.688344
0.504671	2.68808
0.505166	2.687816
0.505663	2.687553
0.506159	2.687291
0.506657	2.687029
0.507155	2.686768
0.507653	2.686507
0.508152	2.686246
0.508651	2.685986
0.50915	2.685727
0.509651	2.685468
0.510151	2.68521
0.510653	2.684952
0.511154	2.684695
0.511657	2.684438
0.512159	2.684182
0.512662	2.683926
0.513166	2.68367
0.51367	2.683416
0.514175	2.683161
0.51468	2.682907
0.515186	2.682654
0.515692	2.682401
0.516198	2.682149
0.516706	2.681897
0.517213	2.681646
0.517721	2.681395
0.51823	2.681145
0.518739	2.680895
0.519249	2.680645
0.519759	2.680397
0.52027	2.680148
0.520781	2.6799
0.521292	2.679653
0.521805	2.679406
0.522317	2.67916
0.52283	2.678914
0.523344	2.678668
0.523858	2.678423
0.524373	2.678179
0.524888	2.677935
0.525404	2.677691
0.52592	2.677448
0.526437	2.677205
0.526954	2.676963
0.527472	2.676722
0.52799	2.67648
0.528509	2.67624
0.529028	2.675999
0.529548	2.67576
0.530068	2.67552
0.530589	2.675282
0.53111	2.675043
0.531632	2.674805
0.532154	2.674568
0.532677	2.674331
0.5332	2.674094
0.533724	2.673858
0.534248	2.673623
0.534773	2.673388
0.535299	2.673153
0.535824	2.672919
0.536351	2.672685
0.536878	2.672452
0.537405	2.672219
0.537933	2.671987
0.538462	2.671755
0.538991	2.671524
0.53952	2.671293
0.54005	2.671062
0.540581	2.670832
0.541112	2.670602
0.541644	2.670373
0.542176	2.670144
0.542709	2.669916
0.543242	2.669688
0.543775	2.669461
0.54431	2.669234
0.544844	2.669008
0.54538	2.668782
0.545916	2.668556
0.546452	2.668331
0.546989	2.668106
0.547526	2.667882
0.548064	2.667658
0.548603	2.667435
0.549142	2.667212
0.549681	2.666989
0.550221	2.666767
0.550762	2.666545
0.551303	2.666324
0.551844	2.666103
0.552387	2.665883
0.552929	2.665663
0.553472	2.665444
0.554016	2.665225
0.554561	2.665006
0.555105	2.664788
0.555651	2.66457
0.556197	2.664353
0.556743	2.664136
0.55729	2.663919
0.557838	2.663703
0.558386	2.663488
0.558934	2.663272
0.559483	2.663058
0.560033	2.662843
0.560583	2.662629
0.561134	2.662416
0.561685	2.662203
0.562237	2.66199
0.56279	2.661778
0.563342	2.661566
0.563896	2.661354
0.56445	2.661143
0.565004	2.660933
0.56556	2.660723
0.566115	2.660513
0.566671	2.660303
0.567228	2.660094
0.567785	2.659886
0.568343	2.659678
0.568902	2.65947
0.569461	2.659263
0.57002	2.659056
0.57058	2.658849
0.571141	2.658643
0.571702	2.658437
0.572263	2.658232
0.572826	2.658027
0.573388	2.657823
0.573952	2.657619
0.574516	2.657415
0.57508	2.657212
0.575645	2.657009
0.576211	2.656806
0.576777	2.656604
0.577343	2.656402
0.577911	2.656201
0.578478	2.656
0.579047	2.6558
0.579616	2.6556
0.580185	2.6554
0.580755	2.6552
0.581326	2.655002
0.581897	2.654803
0.582468	2.654605
0.583041	2.654407
0.583614	2.65421
0.584187	2.654013
0.584761	2.653816
0.585335	2.65362
0.58591	2.653424
0.586486	2.653228
0.587062	2.653033
0.587639	2.652839
0.588216	2.652644
0.588794	2.65245
0.589373	2.652257
0.589952	2.652064
0.590531	2.651871
0.591112	2.651678
0.591692	2.651486
0.592274	2.651295
0.592856	2.651103
0.593438	2.650913
0.594021	2.650722
0.594605	2.650532
0.595189	2.650342
0.595774	2.650153
0.596359	2.649964
0.596945	2.649775
0.597531	2.649587
0.598118	2.649399
0.598706	2.649211
0.599294	2.649024
0.599883	2.648837
0.600472	2.648651
0.601062	2.648465
0.601653	2.648279
0.602244	2.648093
0.602836	2.647908
0.603428	2.647724
0.604021	2.647539
0.604614	2.647356
0.605208	2.647172
0.605803	2.646989
0.606398	2.646806
0.606994	2.646623
0.60759	2.646441
0.608187	2.64626
0.608784	2.646078
0.609383	2.645897
0.609981	2.645716
0.610581	2.645536
0.61118	2.645356
0.611781	2.645176
0.612382	2.644997
0.612984	2.644818
0.613586	2.64464
0.614189	2.644461
0.614792	2.644284
0.615396	2.644106
0.616001	2.643929
0.616606	2.643752
0.617212	2.643576
0.617818	2.643399
0.618425	2.643224
0.619033	2.643048
0.619641	2.642873
0.62025	2.642698
0.620859	2.642524
0.621469	2.64235
0.622079	2.642176
0.622691	2.642003
0.623302	2.64183
0.623915	2.641657
0.624528	2.641484
0.625141	2.641312
0.625755	2.641141
0.62637	2.640969
0.626986	2.640798
0.627602	2.640628
0.628218	2.640457
0.628835	2.640287
0.629453	2.640118
0.630072	2.639948
0.630691	2.639779
0.63131	2.63961
0.631931	2.639442
0.632551	2.639274
0.633173	2.639106
0.633795	2.638939
0.634418	2.638772
0.635041	2.638605
0.635665	2.638439
0.636289	2.638273
0.636914	2.638107
0.63754	2.637942
0.638167	2.637777
0.638794	2.637612
0.639421	2.637447
0.640049	2.637283
0.640678	2.637119
0.641308	2.636956
0.641938	2.636793
0.642568	2.63663
0.6432	2.636467
0.643832	2.636305
0.644464	2.636143
0.645097	2.635982
0.645731	2.635821
0.646365	2.63566
0.647001	2.635499
0.647636	2.635339
0.648272	2.635179
0.648909	2.635019
0.649547	2.63486
0.650185	2.634701
0.650824	2.634542
0.651463	2.634384
0.652103	2.634225
0.652744	2.634068
0.653385	2.63391
0.654027	2.633753
0.65467	2.633596
0.655313	2.63344
0.655957	2.633283
0.656601	2.633127
0.657246	2.632972
0.657892	2.632816
0.658538	2.632661
0.659185	2.632507
0.659833	2.632352
0.660481	2.632198
0.66113	2.632044
0.66178	2.631891
0.66243	2.631737
0.663081	2.631585
0.663732	2.631432
0.664384	2.63128
0.665037	2.631128
0.66569	2.630976
0.666344	2.630824
0.666999	2.630673
0.667654	2.630523
0.66831	2.630372
0.668967	2.630222
0.669624	2.630072
0.670282	2.629922
0.67094	2.629773
0.6716	2.629624
0.672259	2.629475
0.67292	2.629326
0.673581	2.629178
0.674243	2.62903
0.674905	2.628883
0.675568	2.628735
0.676232	2.628588
0.676896	2.628442
0.677561	2.628295
0.678227	2.628149
0.678893	2.628003
0.67956	2.627858
0.680228	2.627712
0.680896	2.627567
0.681565	2.627423
0.682235	2.627278
0.682905	2.627134
0.683576	2.62699
0.684248	2.626846
0.68492	2.626703
0.685593	2.62656
0.686266	2.626417
0.686941	2.626275
0.687616	2.626133
0.688291	2.625991
0.688967	2.625849
0.689644	2.625708
0.690322	2.625567
0.691	2.625426

Optical transmission calculator

Free-standing sample in vacuum, normal incidence

Transmittance T: —
Reflectance R: —

Fresnel reflection calculator

R_p: —
R_s: —
R = (R_p+R_s)/2: —
Phase φ_p: —
Phase φ_s: —
Brewster angle θ_B: —
Critical angle θ_C: —

SiC (Silicon carbide): all datasets

6H-SiC (α-SiC) crystal

4H-SiC crystal

3C-SiC (β-SiC) crystal

Shaffer 1971: β-SiC; n 0.467–0.691 µm n 0.467–0.691 µm

Thin film

Larruquert et al. 2011: Thin film; n,k 0.006154–131.7 µm n,k 0.006154–131.7 µm

About SiC (Silicon carbide)

Silicon carbide (SiC) is a robust and hard compound characterized by its high thermal conductivity, high electric field breakdown strength, and high power frequency. Its hardness is second only to diamond, which makes it an ideal material for abrasive applications. SiC possesses excellent thermal stability, allowing it to maintain its structural integrity in high-temperature environments. As a result, it is commonly used in power electronics, especially in high voltage devices, due to its ability to operate at high temperatures. In the realm of optoelectronics, SiC serves as a substrate for LED production, given its beneficial bandgap properties. Furthermore, its thermal and chemical resistance has made it a favored material in automotive applications, specifically for brake discs. In recent years, its transparent nature in some infrared spectra has led to research into its use for transparent armor and windows. Its unique combination of electrical, thermal, and mechanical properties position SiC as a pivotal material for various high-performance applications.

More about SiC (Silicon carbide) →

Provenance

Version: 1 (snapshot c5c2f18)
Source page: refractiveindex.info
Original file: database/data/main/SiC/nk/Shaffer.yml
ID: ds_429184355f21
API: /v1/datasets/ds_429184355f21

Plot