Fixed-polarizer ellipsometry: a simple technique to measure the thickness of very thin films

Brian Trotter; Garret Moddel; Rachel Ostroff; Gregory R. Bogart

doi:10.1117/1.602049

1 May 1999 Fixed-polarizer ellipsometry: a simple technique to measure the thickness of very thin films

Brian Trotter, Garret Moddel, Rachel Ostroff, Gregory R. Bogart

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Optical Engineering, Vol. 38, Issue 5, (May 1999). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.602049

The fixed-polarizer ellipsometer measures thickness of thin films. It is simple, inexpensive, and provides a linear response over a range of 800 Å. We develop a matrix formulation to describe the optical characteristics of the instrument and apply it to the case of a single thin film on a substrate. Excellent agreement is found between experimental and simulated results. Applying the instrument to optical immunoassay, we show that its sensitivity can extend to 4 pg/ml, depending upon the analyte. This compares favorably with commercially available manual and automated immunoassay systems. The fixed-polarizer ellipsometer appears to be well-suited for use in laboratory and production environments.

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Brian Trotter, Garret Moddel, Rachel Ostroff, and Gregory R. Bogart "Fixed-polarizer ellipsometry: a simple technique to measure the thickness of very thin films," Optical Engineering 38(5), (1 May 1999). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.602049

Published: 1 May 1999

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