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Calibration Procedures for a Two-Modulator Generalized Ellipsometer

Conference ·
OSTI ID:9870

A Two-Modulator Generalized Ellipsometer (2-MGE) has been extremely useful in characterizing optical properties of uniaxial bulk materials, thin films and diffraction gratings. The instrument consists of two polarizer-photoelastic modulator pairs, one operating as the polarization state generator and the other as the polarization state detector. Each photoelastic modulator operates at a different remnant frequency (such as 50 kHz and 60 kHz), making it possible to measure eight elements of the reduced sample Mueller matrix simultaneously. In certain configurations, light reflection from non-depolarizing anisotropic samples can be completely characterized by a single measurement, and the entire reduced Jones matrix can be determined, including the cross polarization coefficients. The calibration of the instrument involves the measurement of the azimuthal angle of the polarizer with respect to the modulator, the modulation amplitude, and the modulator strain for each polarizer photoelastic modulator pair, where the last two are functions of wavelengths. In addition, it is essential to calibrate the azimuthal angles of the polarization state generator and the polarization state detector with respect to the plane of incidence in the ellipsometry configuration that is used in the measurements. Because two modulators operating at different frequencies are used, these calibrations are actually easier and more accurate than for one modulator ellipsometers. In this paper, we will discuss these calibrations and the resultant accuracy limitations of the 2-MGE.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science
DOE Contract Number:
AC05-96OR22464
OSTI ID:
9870
Report Number(s):
ORNL/CP-103562; KC 02 02 02 0; ON: DE00009870
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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