Nonstandard Optical Methods as a Tool for Rough Surface Analysis

The paper presents the potential of optical methods in studies of metallic alloy surfaces with and without a thin passive layer. These methods are non-contact and non-destructive. Total integrating scattering (TIS) and bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) methods were used to determine film thickness, as well as parameters describing the surface topography such as root mean square (rms) roughness and autocorrelation length. The scalar theory of light scattering on surfaces has been applied so that optical results could be obtained. In order to verify the results achieved by optical methods, additional studies were performed using AFM.