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Rotatable retarders have been developed for applications in spectroscopic, full Mueller Matrix ellipsometry in the far-IR spectral range. Several materials, such as silicon, KRS-5, and a commercial polymer plastic (TOPAS) have been utilized to achieve a fully adjustable retardation between 0° and 90°. Experimental characteristics of the rotatable retarders that utilize three- and four-bounce designs are compared with calculations. We discuss the effect of light focusing on the performance of these rotatable retarders.

Using variable-angle spectroscopic ellipsometry, we measure the pseudo-dielectric functions of as-deposited and annealed SiO2/SiOx multilayers. The SiO2(2 nm)/SiOx(2 nm) multilayers are prepared under various deposition temperatures by ion beam sputtering. Annealing at temperatures above 1100 °C leads to the formation of Si nanocrystals (nc-Si) in the SiOx layer of multilayers. Transmission electron microscopy images clearly demonstrate the existence of nc-Si. We assume a Tauc–Lorentz lineshape for the dielectric function of nc-Si, and use an effective medium approximation for SiO2/nc-Si multilayers as a mixture of nc-Si and SiO2. We successfully estimate the dielectric function of nc-Si and its volume fraction. We find that the volume fraction of nc-Si decreases after annealing, with increasing x in as-deposited SiOx layer. This result is compared to expected nc-Si volume fraction, which is estimated from the stoichiometry of SiOx.

We grew ZnO and Zn 1− x Mg x O thin films on (0001) sapphire substrate by metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy and measured the dielectric functions using variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry. We analyzed the dielectric functions using a multi-layer model. We included non-uniform thickness of layers in the model. The dielectric functions were fitted using the Holden model dielectric function. We used anisotropic layer modeling for the ZnO thin film, whereas we adopted the approximation of isotropic layer modeling for Zn 1− x Mg x O alloys. We also discussed the Mg composition dependence of the band-gap and binding energy in Zn 1− x Mg x O alloys.

We have measured the dielectric function of poly 2-methoxy-5-hexyloxy phenylenevinylene and the alternating copolymers with N-hexylphenothiazine grown on glass using variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry and Raman spectroscopy at room temperature. Using the parametric optical constant model, we estimated the dielectric function of each polymer and also determined the band gap parameters, such as threshold energy, broadening, and amplitude. We also determined the band gap parameters by performing lineshape curve-fitting on the second derivative of the fit dielectric function using standard critical point model, and compared to those of the parametric optical constant model. We discussed the shift of band gap parameters and phonon wave numbers in terms of the chemical structures.

We used spectroscopic ellipsometry to characterize four different microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si) films, which were fabricated by crystallizing a-Si:H films predeposited on glass substrates using solid phase crystallization (SPC), excimer laser annealing (ELA), Ni induced silicide-mediated crystallization (Ni-SMC), and field enhanced silicide-mediated crystallization (FESMC) method, respectively. A linear regression analysis, which took the effective dielectric function of μc-Si layer into account using effective medium approximation, showed that all these films were homogeneous throughout their thickness except the oxide overlayers, and completely crystallized regardless of the crystallization method. In our linear regression analysis, the complex dielectric function of silicon microcrystallites was represented by the Adachi model dielectric function (MDF) [T. Suzuki and S. Adachi, Jpn. J. Appl. Phys., Part1 32, 4900 (1993)], and the broadening parameters of the critical points (CPs) in MDF were allowed to vary. The dielectric function of silicon microcrystallites showed systematic broadening and shrinking of the peak features corresponding to the E1 and E2 CPs, from which we concluded that the average microcrystallite size increased in the order of SPC, ELA, Ni-SMC, and FESMC μc-Si. The Raman spectra and the transmission-electron-microscopy images of these films also supported the idea of systematic variation in the microcrystallite size.

The surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of Pt nanoparticles (NPs) in TiO2-SiO2 nanocomposite films, in which Pt NPs of about 5 nm are incorporated, is investigated by using spectroscopic ellipsometry. After obtaining the dielectric functions of Pt NPs from the Pt-SiO2 nanocomposite film, Pt-TiO2-SiO2 nanocomposite films are analyzed by applying a homogenous single layer model with an effective medium approximation. The effects of Pt NPs on the optical properties of the nanocomposite films are clearly revealed in the imaginary part of the dielectric functions, showing an increase in broadband absorption near the band gap of the films with the increasing volume fraction of Pt NPs in the films. Particularly, the maximum of extinction cross-section of Pt NPs in the films coincides with the broadband absorption, indicating that the localized SPR of Pt NPs is responsible for the enhanced light absorption at the visible-light wavelengths. This work emphasizes that, although SPR absorption of Pt NPs is not so distinc...

Far-infrared spectra of magnetodielectric Dy3Fe5O12 garnet were studied using a combination of transmittance, reflectivity, and rotating analyzer ellipsometry. In addition to purely dielectric and magnetic modes, we observed several hybrid modes with a mixed magnetic and electric dipole activity. Using 4 x 4 matrix formalism for materials with mu(omega) 1, we modeled the experimental optical spectra and determined the far-infrared dielectric and magnetic permeability functions. The matching condition mu(omega_h)Se = epsilon(omega_h)Sm for the oscillator strengths Se/m explains the observed vanishing of certain hybrid modes at omega_h in reflectivity.

Using variable-angle spectroscopic ellipsometry, we measure the pseudo-dielectric functions of as-deposited and annealed SiO2/SiOx multilayers (MLs). The SiO2(2nm)/SiOx(2nm) MLs have been prepared under various deposition temperature by ion beam sputtering. The annealing at temperatures ≥ 1100°C leads to the formation of Si nanocrystals (nc-Si) in the SiOx layer of MLs. Transmission electron microscopy images clearly demonstrate the existence of nc-Si. We assume a Tauc-Lorentzian lineshape for the dielectric function of nc-Si, and use an effective medium approximation for SiO2/nc-Si MLs as a mixture of nc-Si and SiO2. We successfully estimate the dielectric function of nc-Si and its volume fraction. We find that the volume fraction of nc-Si decreases after annealing, with increasing x in as-deposited SiOx layer. This result is compared to expected nc-Si volume fraction, which was estimated from stoichiometry of SiOx.

Using spectroscopic ellipsometry electro-optic effect was studied in lead zirconate titanate (PZT) thin films grown epitaxially on Nb-doped SrTiO3(001) substrates by RF magnetron sputtering. A uniaxial multilayer model analysis was applied to extract the linear and quadratic electro-optic coefficients from the shifts in the ordinary and extraordinary refractive indices with electric field applied along the (001) direction. The effective linear and quadratic coefficients were measured as −134.6×10−12 m/V and 8.5×10−18 m2/V2, respectively, at a wavelength of 632.8 nm, while the individual linear electro-optic coefficients r33 and r13 were −157.1 and 22 pm/V, respectively. The existence of the linear electro-optic effect in unpoled PZT films was attributed to the presence of a built-in polarization and simultaneous poling during measurements.

The authors measure the dielectric functions of (GeTe, Sb2Te3) pseudobinary thin films by using spectroscopic ellipsometry. By using standard critical point model, they obtained the optical transition (critical point) energies of the amorphous (crystalline) thin films. The optical (indirect band) gap energies of the amorphous (crystalline) phase are estimated from the linear extrapolation of the absorption coefficients. The band structure calculations show that GeTe, Ge2Sb2Te5, and Ge1Sb2Te4 have indirect gap whereas Ge1Sb4Te7 and Sb2Te3 have direct gap. The measured indirect band gap energies match well with electronic band structure calculations.

Amorphous GaInZnO and polycrystalline ZnO thin films are grown by rf magnetron sputtering. Their optical properties are investigated by spectroscopic ellipsometry. The optical gap of the GaInZnO film increases with the increase of Ga content and by annealing. These are attributed to the large band-gap energy of Ga2O3 and the structural relaxation after annealing, respectively. The changes in optical properties show a strong correlation to the device characteristics of GaInZnO thin film transistors: The turn-on voltage increases as the optical gap increases with increasing Ga∕In ratio. This study shows that the GaInZnO thin films are as excellent as transparent oxide semiconductors.

Single crystalline PbTiO3, PbZrO3, and PbZr0.57Ti0.43O3 thin films on SrTiO3 (001) substrates were grown by a combination of molecular beam epitaxy and rf sputtering methods. The authors measured the dielectric functions of the thin films using spectroscopic ellipsometry and determined the interband critical point energies using standard critical point model. They compared the critical point energies to the band structure calculations in the literature. The data suggest that anticrossing behavior occurs between Ea and Eb near Zr=0.17. This phenomenon is attributed to a coupling between X1c and X3c bands caused by intrinsic alloy disorder.

The purpose of this work is to investigate the effect of corona poling on the optical functions of the nonlinear-optical (NLO) polymers. We measured the complex refractive indices of NLO polymers deposited on glasses before and after corona poling using spectroscopic ellipsometry at room temperature at various incidence angles. In addition, we observed the absorption spectral change using ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy after corona poling, which is attributed to the chromophore orientation. In order to make NLO polymers, we attached a NLO active dye and photocrosslinkable moieties as side chains of poly(4-hydroxystyrene), deposited the polymer thin films on glass substrates by spin-coating, and corona-poled it along the surface-normal direction to align the dipoles of the chromophores along the electric field direction. In detail, PSDR1-25 designates a poly(4-hydroxystyrene) where 25% of hydroxyl groups in the side chain are substituted by disperse red 1 (DR1) and PSDR1-50 means the same except for 50% ...