SIMULTANEOUS DETERMINATION OF REFLECTANCE SPECTRA ALONG WITH (PSI(E),DELTA(E)) IN MULTICHANNEL ELLIPSOMETRY - APPLICATIONS TO INSTRUMENT CALIBRATION AND REDUCTION OF REAL-TIME DATA

We describe applications of the rotating polarizer multichannel ellips ometer for three-parameter spectroscopy (1.4-4.1 eV), in which a full reflectance spectrum is acquired simultaneously with (psi, Delta), all in a time as short as 16 ms. Because data acquisition requires no sig nificant effort beyond that of spectroscopic ellipsometry, the challen ge of three-parameter spectroscopy becomes one of utilizing the third parameter effectively. Here, we demonstrate its utility in measurement s either vs. fixed analyzer angular setting A for instrument calibrati on or vs. time for kinetic studies of nucleating films. In calibration , accurate results for the polarizer phase and analyzer azimuth scale correction can be obtained from measurements of the average reflected irradiance vs. A in the sample measurement configuration, irrespective of the value of Delta for the surface. In the kinetic studies of thin -film nucleation, the reflectance spectrum provides a criterion that a llows one to identify the correct thickness and thus extract the evolu tion of the dielectric function with thickness. This procedure is demo nstrated for Ag thin-film nucleation by magnetron sputtering on Si sub strates. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A.