Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
5347729 | Applied Surface Science | 2017 | 5 Pages |
Abstract
It is a well-known challenge to determine refractive index (n) from ultra-thin films where the thickness is less than about 10Â nm [1,2]. We discovered an interesting exception to this issue while characterizing spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) data from isotropic, free-standing polymer films. Ellipsometry analysis shows that both thickness and refractive index can be independently determined for free-standing films as thin as 5Â nm. Simulations further confirm an orthogonal separation between thickness and index effects on the experimental SE data. Effects of angle of incidence and wavelength on the data and sensitivity are discussed. While others have demonstrated methods to determine refractive index from ultra-thin films [3,4], our analysis provides the first results to demonstrate high-sensitivity to the refractive index from ultra-thin layers.
Related Topics
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Chemistry
Physical and Theoretical Chemistry
Authors
James N. Hilfiker, Michael Stadermann, Jianing Sun, Tom Tiwald, Jeffrey S. Hale, Philip E. Miller, Chantel Aracne-Ruddle,