Direct numerical inversion method for kinetic ellipsometric data. II. Implementation and experimental verification

摘要

A direct numerical inversion method is applied to the monitoring of thin-film growth. Several improvements of the method, including a correction for weakly absorbing materials, are presented. The method has been successfully applied to the inversion of the growth of constant-refractive-index layers and used for the process calibration of plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition of silicon oxynitrides. The validity of this calibration has been successfully tested on a linear index gradient and quintic matching layer between a polycarbonate substrate and a scratch-resistant coating.