Development of the Two-Modulator Generalized Ellipsometer (2-MGE) for Commercial Application

摘要

The two-modulator generalized ellipsometer (2-MGE) is an instrument that measures the change of light polarization upon interacting with a sample. The 2-MGE can operate in either reflection or transmission. In reflection, it acts as a generalized ellipsometer, measuring the standard ellipsometry parameters, as well as the cross-polarization parameters. In transmission, it measures all parameters associated with a general diattenuation and retarder. In this CRADA, Hinds and ORNL have explored the commercial possibilities of the 2-MGE. This exploration has taken two primary paths. First, prototypes were built at both ORNL and Hinds. Second, various scientific applications were explored, including characterization of Polaroid-like materials and various materials under electric field. The main purpose of this CRADA was to develop the two-modulator generalized ellipsometer (2-MGE) into a commercial product. The 2-MGE is an ORNL patented technology (U. S. Patent No. 5956147 (1999)). Associated with the 2-MGE is the computer program EllipsCalc, which is used to simulate spectroscopic ellipsometry data in order to determine useful parameters, such as film thickness, surface roughness, interface thickness, and spectroscopic refractive indices, from the 2-MGE data. To this end, the CRADA had several objectives contained in two phases.