| AVS 66th International Symposium & Exhibition | |
| Spectroscopic Ellipsometry Focus Topic | Wednesday Sessions |
| Session EL+AS+EM+TF-WeM |
| Session: | Optical Characterization of Thin Films and Nanostructures |
| Presenter: | Nick Allen, Brigham Young University |
| Authors: | N.E. Allen, Brigham Young University D.S. Shah, Brigham Young University R.R. Vanfleet, Brigham Young University M.R. Linford, Brigham Young University R.C. Davis, Brigham Young University |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
Carbon nanotube templated microfabrication (CNT-M) is a technique that uses a patterned iron catalyst to grow 3-D structures for device applications. Iron catalyst thickness strongly affects carbon nanotube (CNT) growth heights and the straightness of the CNT-M structures. Atomic force microscopy has been used to directly measure the thicknesses of such iron/iron oxide films, but this technique is slow and not easily scalable. A faster method is ellipsometry, but for very thin films, the optical constants and thickness are not easily separated, thus standard ellipsometry approaches are inadequate. The 2-6 nm thick iron films used as CNT growth catalysts are in this challenging region. The absorptive nature of the iron/iron oxide films adds further difficulty. In this study, a multi-sample ellipsometry analysis using iron films of various thicknesses was performed to obtain the optical constants of thermally evaporated iron. We used contrast enhancement by incorporating a silicon dioxide layer under the film being analyzed to enhance sensitivity to the optical constants.