Characterization of ITO- and TiOxNy films by spectroscopic ellipsometry, spectraphotometry and XPS

Within the last years, several new application for optical coatings were fo und. To assist R&D activities in the development of new films and coating s ources, combination of different analytical techniques is required: spectra photometry measures reflectance, transmittance and absorbance. Spectroscopic ellipsometry is applied to determine optical constants n(lamb da) and k(lambda). For high absorbing TiN and TiON films for CRT display ap plications, these constants were evaluated by combination of photometry and ellipsometry. Spectroscopic ellipsometry is introduced in quality control of ITO films for flat panel displays. Differences of the optical constants indicate enhanced failure rate of the complete display systems. With X-ray photon spectrometry (XPS) depth profiling and electron microprobe (EMP) ana lysis, Na-diffusion from the glass substrates into the films is found to be a source of the failures. Additionally, AFM is applied to monitor film str uctures and measure surface roughness. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All r ights reserved.