Refractive Index and Birefringence of 2H Silicon Carbide

The refractive indices of 2H SiC were measured over the wavelength range 435.8–650.9 nm by the method of minimum deviation. A curve fit of the experimental data to the Cauchy dispersion equation yielded, for the ordinary index, no = 2.5513+2.585×104/λ2+8.928×108/λ4 and, for the extraordinary index, ne = 2.6161 +2.823×104/λ2+11.490×108/λ4 when λ is expressed in nm. The estimated error (standard deviation) in these values is ±0.0006 for no and ±0.0009 for ne. The birefringence calculated from these expressions is about 20% less than previously published values.