Non-destructive thickness measurement of dichromated gelatin films deposited on glass plates

A quick estimation of the thickness of thin films deposited on glass plates is described in this paper. The principle of the method is based on the measurement of the Haidinger fringes generated by the film. For ease of observation and measurement, a commercial Fizeau-type interferometer such as a Zygo interferometer using a large angle of illumination has been used. The simple modification to observe the Haidinger fringes with the Fizeau-type interferometer is also described. The thickness of the film is related to the diameters of the Haidinger fringes. It is possible to estimate the thickness quickly by counting the number of fringes. A more accurate estimate can be obtained by the measurement of the diameters of the fringes and using these data in a formula that relates these two to the thickness of the film. The method is found to be useful for measuring the thickness of dichromated gelatin films (DCG) coated on a substrate to make holographic optical elements. The accuracy in estimating the thickness of the film is of the order ±1μm. The method is entirely non-destructive and works well in the thickness range of 5–150μm.