AVS 45th International Symposium
    Thin Films Division Monday Sessions
       Session TF-MoP

Paper TF-MoP3
Rotating-Compensator Spectroscopic Ellipsometry: Applications of Four-Parameter Stokes Vector Spectroscopy to Real Time Characterization of Non-Ideal Thin Films

Monday, November 2, 1998, 5:30 pm, Room Hall A

Session: Thin Films Poster Session
Presenter: R.W. Collins, Pennsylvania State University
Authors: R.W. Collins, Pennsylvania State University
P.I. Rovira, Pennsylvania State University
J.C. Lee, Pennsylvania State University
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We have developed a multichannel ellipsometer in the rotating-compensator optical configuration, i.e., (fixed polarizer)-(sample)-(rotating compensator)-(fixed analyzer). This instrument has the advantage of providing the spectrum in the degree of polarization p of the light beam reflected from the sample, in addition to the spectra in the ellipsometric angles (@psi@, @DELTA@). In a recent advance, we have extended the instrument capabilities to a simultaneous measurement of the spectral reflectance R of the sample. As a result, the new instrument can collect four-parameter spectra [(@psi@, @DELTA@), p, R] that characterize the unnormalized Stokes vector of the reflected light beam. The minimum measurement time is 32 ms for all four spectra from 1.5 to 4.0 eV. In this paper, instrumentation and calibration issues specific to the simultaneous reflectance measurement will be described. Applications of the rotating-compensator instrument to date include (i) optical anisotropy in nanoscale sculptured thin films of MgF@sub 2@, (ii) nucleation and growth of nanocrystalline and polycrystalline diamond films, and (iii) optical properties, structure and stability of specular and textured transparent conducting oxide thin films. We review these applications and highlight the unique capabilities developed so far. These include the use of p along with (@psi@, @DELTA@) to characterize the evolution of thickness non-uniformity during the growth of diamond films, and the use of R along with (@psi@, @DELTA@) to characterize the effect of annealing and H@sub 2@-plasma exposure on the optical properties and surface roughness on micro/macroscopic scales for textured SnO@sub 2@:F used in photovoltaics applications.