ArticlePDF Available

Mueller matrix ellipsometry study of a circular polarizing filter

Authors:
  • J.A. Woollam Company
  • J.A. Woollam Co., Inc.

Abstract and Figures

The authors introduce an ellipsometric data analysis strategy for a flexible polymeric circular polarizing filter consisting of a thin linear polarizer and quarter-wave plate sandwich. The circular polarizing filter is an inhomogeneous optical system exhibiting different optical responses depending on the propagation direction of light. If light enters from the linear polarizer, the transmitted beam is linearly polarized before entering the quarter-wave plate. The orientation of the quarter-wave plate is rotated 45° from the linear polarizer axis. The emerging light from the quarter-wave plate is circularly polarized. If light is circularly polarized and enters from the reserve side, the quarter-wave plate converts it into linearly polarized light. The following linear polarizer either transmits or absorbs the beam depending on the handedness of the original circular polarization. The optical response in the forward direction is utilized in photography to reduce unwanted reflections in the image. The optical response in the reverse direction is utilized in 3D eyeglasses, which consist of two orthogonal circular polarizing filters to separate the left and right images. Mueller matrix spectroscopic ellipsometry is used to observe the optical responses of a circular polarizing filter in both directions. The authors demonstrate data analysis procedures for individual layers to find the optical constants in a wide spectral range from 400 to 1700 nm. The circular polarizing filter measured in the forward direction enables ellipsometry to determine the included angle between the linear polarizer and the quarter-wave plate. The ellipsometric data analysis result is used to predict transmitted light intensity versus rotation angle (deg) with respect to any input polarization state.
Content may be subject to copyright.
Mueller matrix ellipsometry study of a circular polarizing filter
Nina Hong, and James N. Hilfiker
Citation: Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology B 38, 014012 (2020); doi: 10.1116/1.5129691
View online: https://doi.org/10.1116/1.5129691
View Table of Contents: https://avs.scitation.org/toc/jvb/38/1
Published by the American Vacuum Society
ARTICLES YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN
Mueller matrix ellipsometry of waveplates for control of their properties and alignment
Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology B 38, 014006 (2020); https://doi.org/10.1116/1.5129615
Mueller matrix ellipsometry study of a circular
polarizing lter
Cite as: J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 38, 014012 (2020); doi: 10.1116/1.5129691
View Online Export Citation CrossMar
k
Submitted: 30 September 2019 · Accepted: 10 December 2019 ·
Published Online: 26 December 2019
Nina Hong
a)
and James N. Hilker
AFFILIATIONS
J.A. Woollam Co., Inc., 645M Street, Suite 102, Lincoln, Nebraska 68508
Note: This paper is part of the Conference Collection: 8th International Conference on Spectroscopic Ellipsometry 2019, ICSE.
a)
Electronic mail: nhong@jawoollam.com
ABSTRACT
The authors introduce an ellipsometric data analysis strategy for a exible polymeric circular polarizing lter consisting of a thin linear
polarizer and quarter-wave plate sandwich. The circular polarizing lter is an inhomogeneous optical system exhibiting dierent optical
responses depending on the propagation direction of light. If light enters from the linear polarizer, the transmitted beam is linearly polarized
before entering the quarter-wave plate. The orientation of the quarter-wave plate is rotated 45° from the linear polarizer axis. The emerging
light from the quarter-wave plate is circularly polarized. If light is circularly polarized and enters from the reserve side, the quarter-wave
plate converts it into linearly polarized light. The following linear polarizer either transmits or absorbs the beam depending on the handed-
ness of the original circular polarization. The optical response in the forward direction is utilized in photography to reduce unwanted reec-
tions in the image. The optical response in the reverse direction is utilized in 3D eyeglasses, which consist of two orthogonal circular
polarizing lters to separate the left and right images. Mueller matrix spectroscopic ellipsometry is used to observe the optical responses of a
circular polarizing lter in both directions. The authors demonstrate data analysis procedures for individual layers to nd the optical con-
stants in a wide spectral range from 400 to 1700 nm. The circular polarizing lter measured in the forward direction enables ellipsometry to
determine the included angle between the linear polarizer and the quarter-wave plate. The ellipsometric data analysis result is used to
predict transmitted light intensity versus rotation angle (deg) with respect to any input polarization state.
Published under license by AVS. https://doi.org/10.1116/1.5129691
I. INTRODUCTION
Circular polarizing lters convert unpolarized light to circularly
polarized light by passing light through a linear polarizer followed by
a quarter-wave plate as shown in Fig. 1(a). Circular polarizing lters
are commonly used in front of camera lenses for photography to
lter out unwanted reections, darken blue skies, or suppress glare
from the surface of the water. Since the light passes through a linear
polarizer rst, it passes light polarized in the same linear direction.
This reduces unwanted reections from nonmetallic surfaces such as
water or glass or scattering of light with particles in the atmosphere.
This improves vividness, color saturation, and contrast of the image.
The quarter-wave plate is used to convert the linearly polarized light
into a circularly polarized light to avoid problems with the polariza-
tion sensitivity of the detector.
The reverse direction of circularly polarized lters is used
for circularly polarized 3D eyeglasses. In the reverse direction,
transmitted light through the entire device is always linearly
polarized regardless of the input polarization state because the
linear polarizer is the last optical element. However, if the input
beam is circularly polarized, it works as a circular polarization
lter, as shown in Fig. 1(b), and the ltration is dependent on the
handedness. The quarter-wave plate converts circularly polarized
light into linearly polarized light. The following linear polarizer,
which is 45° rotated from the quarter-wave plate axis, either trans-
mits or blocks the linearly polarized light depending on the hand-
edness. When two opposite circular polarizing lters are used in
eyewear, each eye sees a dierent image, and stereoscopic images
are created by the superposition of the two images.
Ellipsometry is a proven metrology tool to measure thin lm
thickness and optical constants.
1
The circular polarizing lter con-
sists of two anisotropic lms. This sample structure is well suited
for ellipsometry to determine the thickness and optical constants
for each lm. Sample measurement and data analysis are nontrivial
due to direction-dependent optical constants of each lm created
ARTICLE avs.scitation.org/journal/jvb
J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 38(1) Jan/Feb 2020; doi: 10.1116/1.5129691 38, 014012-1
Published under license by AVS.
by anisotropy. We use Mueller matrix (MM) ellipsometry,
2
which is
ideal for anisotropic samples as it measures polarizing and cross-
polarizing eects of the sample as well as depolarization of light.
3
We
demonstrate step-by-step data analysis procedures for these aniso-
tropic lms and perform simulations based on the modeling out-
comes to examine the performance of the circular polarizing lter.
For the quarter-wave plate, we limit the data analysis to the
wavelength range where the lm is transparent. The phase delay at
normal incidence is created by the index dierence between two
orthogonal directions in the sample plane. Thus, our model can
capture the optical anisotropy of this layer as well as the orientation
of the anisotropic optical axes. For the retarding lm, analyzing the
transparent region is adequate to extract all parameters of interest.
The details of this data analysis have been discussed in the authors
previous paper
4
for various polymeric substrates.
Data analysis of a linear polarizer, on the other hand, must
include the absorbing region where linear diattenuation occurs.
Linear diattenuation is the property of a material where the trans-
mission intensity diers between two orthogonal linear polarization
directions.
5
For the linear polarizer, we are mostly interested in
how well the linear polarizer selectively transmits or absorbs light
depending on the input polarization direction. To minimize the
number of free parameters during tting, data analysis is divided
into multiple steps. First, the transparent region is analyzed, which
provides information regarding lm thickness, refractive index, and
the azimuthal orientation. Second, the complex refractive index in
the absorbing region is determined, where one direction remains
transparent while the orthogonal direction absorbs light.
Finally, we apply both models to analyze MM ellipsometry
data acquired from the circular polarizing lter, which consists of
the two lms. The included angle of the two lms is determined by
measurements performed in the forward direction. This report
shows that ellipsometry can be used as an accurate nondestructive
metrology tool for circular polarizing lters.
II. EXPERIMENT
A dual-rotating spectroscopic ellipsometer (J.A. Woollam RC2®)
is used to measure all data. The instrument specications and
coordinate system are explained in Ref. 4. Fifteen normalized MM
elements were measured in both reection and transmission over
a wide spectral range from 193 to 1700 nm. Data analysis was
restricted above 380 or 400 nm. Technically, the optical constants
below 380 nm can be measured using ellipsometry data in reec-
tion. However, it is unnecessary for this device structure, which
only operates in transmission.
Transmission-mode MM data were acquired for a wide angle
of incidence range from 15° to +75° by 5°. For brevity, only the
angles in steps of 15° are displayed in the gures throughout the
paper. The few negative angles of incidence were included to
ensure proper sample alignment and that lms did not exhibit
tilted optical axes relative to the sample normal. Reection-mode
MM data were measured at multiple angles of incidence from
+55° and +75° by 10°. An automated sample rotation stage with
accuracy better than ±0.02° is used to take azimuthal rotation scans
from 0° to 360° by 2° for both normal incidence transmission and
reection-mode MM data. Analyzing multiple data at dierent
azimuthal angles helps reduce parameter correlation for birefrin-
gent samples with absorption.
MM data analysis was performed using the CompleteEASE®
software.
6
The LevenbergMarquardt multivariate regression algo-
rithm was used to nd the best-t parameters. Dispersion functions
were created using either KramersKronig consistent b-spline
7
or
generalized oscillator layer
8
to describe complex refractive index
versus wavelength (or energy).
III. MODELING
This section introduces MM ellipsometry data features and
procedures for ellipsometry modeling. The subsections show the
components of our modeling strategy: (A) a quarter-wave plate,
which creates a 90° phase shift; (B) a linear polarizer, which behaves
as a linear retarder in the near-infrared and a linear diattenuator in
the visible; and (C) a circular polarizing lter, a combination of the
two optical systems.
A. Quarter-wave plate
Quarter-wave plate is a polarization element that creates a 90°
phase shift between two orthogonal polarizations. The MM of a
horizontal quarter-wave plate and Stokes vectors, s, for input and
output light in transmission are shown in Eq. (1). Transmission of
light through a quarter-wave plate swaps the last two Stokes param-
eters along with a sign-change for the fourth parameter. This indi-
cates that a quarter-wave plate converts ±45° linearly polarized
light into circularly polarized light and vice versa,
1000
0100
0001
0010
2
6
6
4
3
7
7
5
s0
s1
s2
s3
2
6
6
4
3
7
7
5
¼
s0
s1
s3
s2
2
6
6
4
3
7
7
5
:(1)
FIG. 1. (a) Forward direction and (b) reverse direction operation of a circular
polarizing lter consisting of a linear polarizer and quarter-wave plate.
ARTICLE avs.scitation.org/journal/jvb
J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 38(1) Jan/Feb 2020; doi: 10.1116/1.5129691 38, 014012-2
Published under license by AVS.
A phase shift caused by the optical path dierence due to dierent
indices of refraction is given as
δ(rad) ¼2π
λt(jnynxj):(2)
Here, tis the lm thickness, λis the wavelength, and njis the
index of refraction in the j-direction. The quarter-wave plate studied
in this report is a thin polymeric substrate with biaxial anisotropy.
As the retardance is wavelength dependent, a quarter-wave shift
occurs only for a single wavelength. The wavelength where a quarter-
wave shift occurs is tunable by adjusting lm thickness. Equation (3)
shows the MM of a rotated retarder where the phase shift (or retard-
ance), δ, is a wavelength-dependent parameter and θis the angle
between the retarder and the ellipsometer coordinate system,
10 0 0
0cos
22θþcosδsin22θ(1 cosδ) cos 2θsin 2θsin δsin 2θ
0(1cos δ)cos2θsin2θsin22θþcos δcos22θsin δcos 2θ
0sinδsin2θsinδcos2θcos δ
2
6
6
4
3
7
7
5
:
(3)
Note that the last MM element, m44, contains information about the
retardance while remaining independent of retarder orientation. It is
convenient to limit the analysis to normal incidence and use m44 to
t only for the index dierence between the x- and y-directions,
which determines the retardance. Once the retardance is estimated,
we can expand our analysis to the remaining MM elements and
match the data to nd the azimuthal orientation, θ. A full characteri-
zation to nd the refractive indices in the x-,y-,andz-directions can
be accomplished by analyzing all data including oblique angles.
Ellipsometry data at high angles give great sensitivity to the
out-of-plane index as the z-component of the electric eld increases
as the angle increases.
Figure 2 shows an excellent agreement between the MM
ellipsometry data and generated curves from the biaxial model. The
y-axis is scaled to show the shape of the curves. The high-frequency
oscillations in the data are from coherent thickness interference
between the beams reected from the top and bottom surfaces of
FIG. 2. MM ellipsometry measurement (solid lines) and model generated (dotted line) data of quarter-wave plate in the transmission mode from 15° to +75°.
FIG. 3. Thickness interference oscillations are well resolved in the selected MM
elements (m12 and m44) from 1400 to 1700 nm. Film thickness is optically deter-
mined by matching these interference oscillations.
ARTICLE avs.scitation.org/journal/jvb
J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 38(1) Jan/Feb 2020; doi: 10.1116/1.5129691 38, 014012-3
Published under license by AVS.
the quarter-wave plate. The oscillations are more prominent at high
angles and long wavelengths due to the longer coherent length of
light. These oscillations can be ignored in the biaxial modeling as
shown in Fig. 2 by assuming completely incoherent interference
between the multiple combined beams and tting through the
baseline of the data. We can also use these oscillations to optically
determine the lm thickness. For this purpose, the model needs to
be modied to account for the coherent interference of multiple
beams and the inuence of the system bandwidth. Film thickness
becomes a t parameter in the modied model. Figure 3 shows two
of the MM elements at long wavelengths. The interference oscilla-
tions are well resolved and determine the thickness of the quarter-
wave plate to be 77.75 μm.
The complex refractive indices, nx,ny, and nz, of the quarter-
wave plate are shown in Fig. 4(a).Figure 4(b) shows the in-plane
retardance calculated by Eq. (2). The result indicates that the tested
polymeric lm is a zero-order wave plate and works as a quarter-
wave plate at 580 nm. If the retardance is not exactly a quarter-wave,
polarization conversion between linear and circular polarization is
imperfect. The amount of imperfection can be estimated using the
spectroscopic ellipsometry result.
B. Linear polarizer
Linear polarizers transmit light of a specic linear polariza-
tion and absorb light polarization of the orthogonal direction.
The dierence in transmission intensities is called linear
FIG. 4. Refractive index (n) vs wavelength (nm) in the x-,y-, and z-directions
(a) and in-plane retardance (deg) vs wavelength (nm) (b) are obtained from MM
ellipsometry data analysis for a quarter-wave plate.
FIG. 5. Rotation scan of normalized 15MM elements at normal incidence for linear polarizer from 400 to 1700 nm.
ARTICLE avs.scitation.org/journal/jvb
J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 38(1) Jan/Feb 2020; doi: 10.1116/1.5129691 38, 014012-4
Published under license by AVS.
FIG. 6. MM spectroscopic ellipsometry measurement (solid line) and model generated (dotted line) data for a linear polarizer in the transmission mode at 0° (a) and 45°
(b) orientations.
ARTICLE avs.scitation.org/journal/jvb
J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 38(1) Jan/Feb 2020; doi: 10.1116/1.5129691 38, 014012-5
Published under license by AVS.
FIG. 7. MM spectroscopic ellipsometry measurement (solid line) and model generated (dotted line) data for a linear polarizer in the reection mode at 0° (a) and 45° (b)
orientations.
ARTICLE avs.scitation.org/journal/jvb
J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 38(1) Jan/Feb 2020; doi: 10.1116/1.5129691 38, 014012-6
Published under license by AVS.
diattenuation. Modeling a linear polarizer is more complex due
to the added parameters to describe direction-dependent absorp-
tion. The ellipsometer used for this work has rotating compensa-
tors before and after the sample. The dual-rotating compensator
system avoids issues with low signal intensity for linearly polar-
ized light whose transmission axis is nonideal for the analyzer
axis. Thus, the dual-rotating compensator conguration is ideal
for determining the direction-dependent refractive index and the
extinction coecient of a linear polarizer.
The MM of an ideal linear polarizer with a horizontal trans-
mission axis and the Stokes vectors, s, for input and output light in
transmission are given as
1
2
1100
1100
0000
0000
2
6
6
4
3
7
7
5
s0
s1
s2
s3
2
6
6
4
3
7
7
5
¼1
2
s0þs1
s0þs1
0
0
2
6
6
4
3
7
7
5
:(4)
Equation (4) tells us that an ideal linear polarizer transmits linear
polarization parallel to its transmission axis regardless of the input
polarization state. The MM of an ideal linear polarizer with an
arbitrary transmission axis, θ, is given as
1
2
1 cos 2θsin 2θ0
cos 2θcos22θcos 2θsin 2θ0
sin 2θcos 2θsin 2θsin22θ0
00 00
2
6
6
4
3
7
7
5
:(5)
Here, varying the transmission axis of the linear polarizer is
equivalent to varying the angle between the linear polarizer and the
ellipsometer coordinate system.
Figure 5 shows a rotation scan of MM data from 0° to 360° for
the linear polarizer, which reveals wavelength-dependent optical
responses. Between 700 and 1700 nm, the optical response is similar
to a linear retarder. The last MM element, m44 ,doesnotchangewith
azimuthal orientation. The wavelength dependence of m44 is due to
the cosine function of retardance as shown in Eq. (3) for linear
FIG. 8. Complex refractive index vs wavelength (nm) in the transmission and
extinction axes for linear polarizer.
FIG. 9. Rotation scan of normalized 15 MM elements at normal incidence for circular polarizing lter in the forward direction from 400 to 1700 nm.
ARTICLE avs.scitation.org/journal/jvb
J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 38(1) Jan/Feb 2020; doi: 10.1116/1.5129691 38, 014012-7
Published under license by AVS.
retarders and the wavelength dependence of retardance as shown
in Eq. (2). The remaining MM elements in the bottom-right 3 3
submatrix show repeated values every 90° or 180° as predicted by the
trigonometric functions of 2θin Eq. (3). Analysis of the transparent
region is performed as explained in Sec. III A. The linear polarizer is
found to exhibit uniaxial anisotropy. Between 400 and 700 nm, the
main optical response is found in the top-left 3 3submatrix.The
repeated values in this submatrix correspond to the trigonometric
functions of 2θin Eq. (5). The rotation scan of MM data tells us that
the linear retarder shows linear diattenuation in the visible wave-
length range.
Reection MM data is analyzed in addition to transmission
MM data to obtain the extinction coecient. Figures 6 and 7
show the MM data in transmission and reection in two dierent
orientations. Multiple orientations were analyzed simultaneously
to break parameter correlation, which occurs for anisotropic
absorbing samples as explained in Ref. 4. Although the linear
polarizer axis could not be perfectly aligned to the ellipsometer
coordinate system by hand, the MM data at 0° orientation
show very little cross-polarization.Thisisconrmed as the
o-diagonal 2 2 submatrix elements are close to zero in both
transmission and reection. The modeling result indicates that
the misorientation is just 1.3°. The 1valuesinthem12 and m21
elements in the visible show that the transmission axis is in the
vertical direction. Accordingly, the transmission axis is close to
45° for Figs. 6(b) and 7(b),whichleadstosignicant
cross-polarization.
A uniaxial model is established to t all data shown in
Figs. 6 and 7and one more MM data in reection rotated by 90°.
The resulting complex refractive index over a wide wavelength
range from 400 to 1700 nm is shown in Fig. 8. At long wavelengths,
the refractive index shows a normal dispersion in both transmission
and extinction directions with no absorption. Thus, the sample
behaves as a linear retarder. For visible wavelengths, the extinction
coecient in the extinction axis shows strong absorption due to
organic absorption. Thus, an electric eld oscillating along this
direction is strongly absorbed through the linear polarizer.
The opposite direction remains transparent in the visible with an
extinction coecient of less than 0.0001. The refractive index for
the transmission axis shows very little dispersion as the wave-
length changes.
C. Circular polarizing lter
The last sample consists of a linear combination of the previ-
ously studied two layers. This optical system is inhomogeneous
since the optical response is dierent depending on whether the
beam enters from one side or the other, as demonstrated in Fig. 1.
The forward direction converts unpolarized light into circularly
polarized light. The reverse direction can pass or block circularly
polarized light depending on its handedness.
Figure 9 shows a rotation scan of MM data from 0° to 360° for
the circular polarizing lter in the forward direction. Visually, we
can divide the optical response into two wavelength ranges. Above
FIG. 10. MM spectroscopic ellipsometry measurement (solid line) and model generated (dotted line) data for circular polarizers in the forward direction transmission mode.
ARTICLE avs.scitation.org/journal/jvb
J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 38(1) Jan/Feb 2020; doi: 10.1116/1.5129691 38, 014012-8
Published under license by AVS.
700 nm, the bottom-right 3 3 submatrix elements show interest-
ing patterns with repeated values as the circular polarizer rotates.
This is because the system is simply a linear combination of two
linear retarders in this wavelength range. Between 400 and 700 nm,
m12 and m13 values change repeatedly between 1 and +1. The
m12 (or m13) element decides the linear diattenuation between hori-
zontal (or +45°) and vertical (or 45°) linear polarization. Thus,
these two MM elements are related to how well linearly polarized
light transmits depending on the polarization direction. On the
other hand, the circular polarizer equally transmits circularly polar-
ized light regardless of its handedness as found from m14 ¼0.
Another interesting MM element is m41. This MM element is
related to the capability of the optical system to convert unpolar-
ized light into circularly polarized light, referred to as circular
polarizance.
9,10
Since the measured value is +1, we can infer that
the device works as a right-circular polarizing lter by converting
unpolarized light into right-circularly polarized light. When the cir-
cular polarizer is measured in the reverse direction (the data are
not shown here), the m41 element is 0 and the m14 element is +1.
In this case, the sample shows circular diattenuation,
9,10
which
transmits right-circularly polarized light and blocks left-circularly
polarized light. Thus, the device works as a right-circular polarizer.
For the circular polarizing lter, we build a model with xed
optical constants determined from the individual lms. The t
parameters include each layers thickness and orientation. The
best-t parameters are determined from transmission MM data at a
single orientation. Figure 10 shows that the measured data (solid
line) match the model generated data (dotted line). To ensure
model validity, we further treection-mode MM data at three
dierent orientations (0°, 45°, and 90°). The best-t thickness of
the quarter-wave plate is 78.64 μm and that of the linear polarizer
is 80.46 μm. The included angle shows a small variation from 43°
to 46° between dierent data sets.
IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
In this section, we evaluate the performance of the device in
both directions. In the forward direction, detected intensity
versus rotation angle (deg) of the device is predicted for unpolar-
ized light and four linear polarizations. Figure 11 shows the simu-
lated results for a wavelength of 580 nm. The sinusoidal functions
show the orientations for the minimum and maximum intensities.
The device equally transmits unpolarized light at all rotation
angles. Due to the dierent Fresnel reection coecients between
the p- and s-waves, reected light upon a material is polarized.
When the device is used in photography, the lter can be rotated
to reduce unwanted reections. We also simulate normalized
transmittance through the circular polarizing lter in the reserve
direction. In this direction, the input light is either right- or left-
circularly polarized (Fig. 12). The simulation shows that the
device transmits right-circularly polarized light and blocks left-
circularly polarized light in the visible. This function is utilized in
3D eyeglasses. As the wavelength increases, the device no longer
lters circular polarization.
V. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
MM spectroscopic ellipsometry was used to measure three
dierent optical systems: a quarter-wave plate, a linear polarizer,
and a circular polarizing lter. We demonstrated an ellipsometric
data analysis strategy for a complete description of the samples.
The optical constants of each layer were measured in terms of the
complex refractive index over a wide spectral range from visible to
near-infrared. Anisotropic modeling provided the fast axis
FIG. 11. Simulated detected intensity (%) vs rotation angle (deg) for unpolarized
and linearly polarized light through a circular polarizing lter in the forward direction.
FIG. 12. Simulated normalized transmittance vs wavelength (nm) for right- and
left-circularly polarized light through a circular polarizing lter in the reverse
direction.
ARTICLE avs.scitation.org/journal/jvb
J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 38(1) Jan/Feb 2020; doi: 10.1116/1.5129691 38, 014012-9
Published under license by AVS.
orientation of the quarter-wave plate, the transmission axis of the
linear retarder, and the included angle of the circularly polarized
lter. The optical response of the circular polarizing lter was
dependent on the direction of light propagation. We simulated the
transmission intensities in both directions with respect to various
polarization states. The MM ellipsometry data analysis method
developed in this report can potentially be used for nondestructive
quality control of these optical devices.
REFERENCES
1
H. Fujiwara, Spectroscopic Ellipsometry: Principles and Applications (Wiley,
West Sussex, 2007).
2
R. W. Collins and J. Joh, J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 16, 1997 (1999).
3
J. N. Hilker, J. S. Hale, C. M. Herzinger, T. Tiwald, N. Hong, S. Schöche, and
H. Arwin, Appl. Surf. Sci. 421, 494 (2017).
4
N. Hong, R. A. Synowicki, and J. N. Hilker, Appl. Surf. Sci. 421, 518 (2017).
5
R. A. Chipman, W.-S. T. Lam, and G. Young, Polarized Light and Optical
Systems (CRC, Boca Raton, FL, 2019).
6
J. Hale and B. Johs, CompleteEASE® (J. A. Woollam, Lincoln, NE, 19992019).
7
B. Johs and J. Hale, Phys. Status Solidi A 205, 715 (2008).
8
Guide to Using WVASE Spectroscopic Ellipsometry Data Acquisition and
Analysis Software (J.A. Woollam Co., Lincoln, NE, 2017).
9
O. Arteaga and A. Canillas, Opt. Lett. 35, 559 (2010).
10
M. Bass and V. N. Mahajan, Handbook of Optics, Third Edition Volume I:
Geometrical and Physical Optics, Polarized Light, Components and Instruments
(McGraw-Hill, New York, 2010).
J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 38(1) Jan/Feb 2020; doi: 10.1116/1.5129691 38, 014012-10
Published under license by AVS.
ARTICLE avs.scitation.org/journal/jvb
... Inspection by ellipsometer is commonly used to confirm the optical quality of a CP film [13] . Although the ellipsometer can provide highly accurate CD measurement, the ellipsometry system is bulky and has a prohibitive cost. ...
... MM measurement techniques are used in a variety of applications because of their general suitability to measure many sample types. The MM of anisotropic samples enables access to intriguing optical properties such as the birefringence or dichroism of flexible polymeric substrates [34,35], the retardance and tilt distribution of liquid crystals [36][37][38][39], the anisotropic optical constants and dimensional parameters of nanostructured thin films or metamaterials [40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48], and the 3 × 3 dielectric tensor and Euler angles of low symmetry crystals [49][50][51][52][53][54]. MM data has been used to reconstruct the optical critical dimensions of diffraction gratings formed by integrated circuit devices [55][56][57][58][59][60]. ...
Article
Full-text available
The Mueller matrix is a mathematical description of how light is altered by an optical element or a sample under study. It describes both intensity (irradiance) and polarization changes, including a reduction of the total polarization. Mueller matrix spectroscopic ellipsometry has gained recent popularity in the optics and semiconductor communities as an effective means to characterize complex sample structures and anisotropic materials. While this method is not new, its recent expansion to new fields has left many users with only a pedestrian understanding of the data they collect. This tutorial provides an overview of Mueller matrix spectroscopic ellipsometry with focus on practical aspects for those new to the technique.
Article
Relaxor-lead titanate (PbTiO3) crystals, which exhibit extremely high piezoelectricity, are believed to possess high electro-optic (EO) coefficients. However, the optical transparency of relaxor-PbTiO3 crystals is severely reduced as a result of light scattering and reflection by domain walls, limiting electro-optic applications. Through synergistic design of a ferroelectric phase, crystal orientation, and poling technique, we successfully removed all light-scattering domain walls and achieved an extremely high transmittance of 99.6% in antireflection film-coated crystals, with an ultrahigh EO coefficient r33 of 900 picometers per volt (pm V-1), >30 times as high as that of conventionally used EO crystals. Using these crystals, we fabricated ultracompact EO Q-switches that require very low driving voltages, with superior performance to that of commercial Q-switches. Development of these materials is important for the portability and low driving voltage of EO devices.
Article
This work reports on Mueller matrix spectroscopic ellipsometry characterization of various flexible plastic substrates that are optically anisotropic with varying degrees of birefringence. The samples are divided into three groups according to the suggested characterization strategy: low birefringence, high birefringence, and twisted birefringence. The first group includes poly(methyl methacrylate) and cyclic olefin copolymer substrates. These are modeled with biaxial anisotropy for the real part of the refractive index while the imaginary part is approximated as isotropic due to small light absorption. The second group includes polyethylene terephthalate and polyethylene naphthalate substrates, which are modeled with biaxial anisotropy for both real and imaginary refractive indices. Lastly, a polyimide substrate is described as two birefringent layers with twisted in-plane orientation.
Article
Mueller matrix (MM) measurements offer the ability to quantify the depolarization capability of a sample. Depolarization can be estimated using terms such as the depolarization index or the average degree of polarization. However, these calculations require measurement of the complete MM. We propose an alternate depolarization metric, termed the Jones matrix quality factor, QJM, which does not require the complete MM. This metric provides a measure of how close, in a least-squares sense, a Jones matrix can be found to the measured Mueller matrix. We demonstrate and compare the use of QJM to other traditional calculations of depolarization for both isotropic and anisotropic depolarizing samples; including non-uniform coatings, anisotropic crystal substrates, and beetle cuticles that exhibit both depolarization and circular diattenuation.
Article
We describe the design of a high-speed multichannel ellipsometer in the optical configuration PC1r(ω1)SC2r(ω2)A having frequency-coupled rotating compensators (C1r and C2r) and a fixed polarizer and analyzer (P and A) symmetrically placed about the sample (S) on the polarization generation and detection arms of the instrument. For this instrument the frequency-coupled compensators rotate continuously at ω1 = 5ω and ω2=3ω, where π/ω is the fundamental optical period. Although the dual rotating-compensator configuration has been proposed and demonstrated earlier, we focus on its extension to real-time Mueller matrix spectroscopy of surface modification and thin-film growth utilizing high-speed multichannel detection with a wide spectral range. The proposed instrument design provides the capability of extracting all 16 elements of the unnormalized Mueller matrix of an evolving sample at 1024 points from 1.5 to 6.5 eV with potential acquisition and repetition times of 0.2 s. Techniques of data acquisition, data reduction, and instrument calibration are described for the general case of arbitrary compensator retardances and polarizer and analyzer angles. We expect that the proposed instrument will have important applications in studies of surfaces and thin films that exhibit anisotropy and inhomogeneity.
Book
The most comprehensive and up-to-date optics resource available Prepared under the auspices of the Optical Society of America, the five carefully architected and cross-referenced volumes of the Handbook of Optics, Third Edition, contain everything a student, scientist, or engineer requires to actively work in the field. From the design of complex optical systems to world-class research and development methods, this definitive publication provides unparalleled access to the fundamentals of the discipline and its greatest minds.Individual chapters are written by the world's most renowned experts who explain, illustrate, and solve the entire field of optics. Each volume contains a complete chapter listing for the entire Handbook, extensive chapter glossaries, and a wealth of references. This pioneering work offers unprecedented coverage of optics data, techniques, and applications. Volume I covers geometrical and physical optics, polarized light, components, and instruments. Table of contentsContributors; Brief Contents of All Volumes; Editors' Preference; Preface to Volume I; Glossary and Fundamental Constants; Part 1: Geometrical Optics; Chapter 1. General Principles of Geometrical Optics (Douglas S. Goodman); Chapter 2. Physical Optics; Chapter 3. Diffraction (Arvind S. Marathay and John F. McCalmont); Chapter 4. Transfer Function Techniques (Glenn H. Boreman); Chapter 5. Coherence Theory (William H. Carter); Chapter 6. Coherence Theory: Tools and Applications (Gisele Bennett, William T. Rhodes, and J. Christopher James); Chapter 7. Scattering by Particles (Craig F. Bohren); Chapter 8. Surface Scattering (Eugene L. Church and Peter Z. Takacs); Chapter 9. Volume Scattering in Random Media (Aristide Dogariu and Jeremy Ellis); Chapter 10. Optical Spectroscopy and Spectroscopic Lineshapes (Brian Henderson); Chapter 11. Analog Optical Signal and Image Processing (Joseph W. Goodman); Part 3: Polarized Light; Chapter 12. Polarization (Jean M. Bennett); Chapter 13. Polarizers (Jean M. Bennett); Chapter 14. Mueller Matrices (Russell A. Chipman); Chapter 15. Polarimetry (Russell A. Chipman); Chapter 16. Ellipsometry (Rasheed M.A. Azzam); Part 4: Components; Chapter 17. Lenses (R. Barry Johnson); Chapter 18. Afocal Systems (William B. Wetherell); Chapter 19. Nondispersive Prisms (William L. Wolfe); Chapter 20. Dispersive Prisms and Gratings (George J. Zissis); Chapter 21. Integrated Optics Thomas L. Koch, Frederick J. Leonberger, and Paul G. Suchoski); Chapter 22. Miniature and Micro-Optics (Tom D. Milster and Tomasz S. Tkaczyk); Chapter 23. Binary Optics (Michael W. Farn and Wilfrid B. Vendkamp); Chapter 24. Gradient Index Optics (Duncan T. Moore); Part 5: Instruments; Chapter 25. Cameras (Norman Goldberg); Chapter 26. Solid-State Cameras (Gerald C. Holst); Chapter 27. Camera Lenses (Ellis Betensky, Melvin H. Kreitzer, and Jacob Moskovich); Chapter 28. Microscopes (Rudolf Oldenbourg and Michael Shrikak); Chapter 29. Reflective and Catadioptric Objectives (Lloyd Jones); Chapter 30. Scanners (Leo Beiser and R. Barry Johnson); Chapter 31. Optical Spectrometers (Brian Henderson); Chapter 32. Interferometers (Parameswaran Hariharan); Chapter 33. Holography and Holographic Instruments (Lloyd Huff); Chapter 34. Xerographic Systems (Howard Stark); Chapter 35. Principles of Disk Data Storage (Masud Mansuripur); Index
Article
Accurate dielectric function values are essential for spectroscopic ellipsometry data analysis by traditional optical model-based analysis techniques. In this paper, we show that B-spline basis functions offer many advantages for param- eterizing dielectric functions. A Kramers–Kronig consistent B-spline formulation, based on the standard B-spline recursion relation, is derived. B-spline representations of typical semiconductor and metal dielectric functions are also presented. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Article
In this Letter we present the equations to calculate the six independent polarization effects of an arbitrary normalized Mueller-Jones matrix corresponding to homogenous media. A comparison between this method and other inversion procedures is discussed, and the application of the analytic inversion to experimental Mueller matrices is illustrated.
Polarized Light and Optical Systems
  • R A Chipman
  • W.-S T Lam
  • G Young
R. A. Chipman, W.-S. T. Lam, and G. Young, Polarized Light and Optical Systems (CRC, Boca Raton, FL, 2019).