Optical Depolarization of Thin Metal Films

摘要

All optical surfaces exhibit some degree of roughness. As a consequence of this, some of the scattered light is depolarized. Depolarization of scattered light has been previously investigated in connection with radar theory. This study examined depolarization of scattered light from thin metal films using an angle-resolved optical scatterometer. The effect of varying surface morphology on the intensity of the depolarized light was investigated. The results establish that in the smooth surface limit, depolarization has little dependence on surface roughness. The intensity of depolarized light increased for surfaces which have relatively more high frequency microroughness. (Author)