Laser diagnostics of nanoscale dielectric films on transparent substrate by integrating differential reflectivity and ellipsometry

The effect of nanometer dielectric films on the differential reflection characteristics of linearly polarized light from non-absorbing materials is investigated in the long-wavelength approximation. The second-order formulas for changes in the reflectance of s- and p-polarized light caused by ultrathin layer are obtained. A detailed analysis of the influence of ultrathin film to the reflectivity of p-polarized light in the vicinity of the Brewster angle is carried out. The novel methods are developed for determining the thickness and refractive index of uniform (or the average values of refractive index of nonuniform) nanometer-scale films by differential reflectivity and ellipsometric measurements.     

Ellipsometry of anisotropic graphene-like two-dimensional materials on transparent substrates

New possibilities for determining anisotropic properties of the dielectric constants of two-dimensional materials by ellipsometry are developed. Graphene-like 2D materials are considered within the framework of macroscopic electrodynamics as ultrathin absorbing anisotropic films where the optical axis is perpendicular to the film surface. The ellipsometric inversion problem is resolved analytically. The resulting inversion formulas are very fast because they allow you to directly calculate the complex anisotropic dielectric constants without the use of sophisticated regression analysis or iterative root-finding procedures. In particular, the method offers an interest in graphene and related 2D materials because the anisotropic properties of such materials have not been studied to date.     

Reflection of electromagnetic plane waves in a long-wavelength approximation from a multilayer system of anisotropic transparent films on absorbing medium

The propagation of s- and p-polarised electromagnetic plane waves in a N-layer system of anisotropic films on isotropic and homogeneous absorbing substrate is investigated in the long-wavelength limit. The analytical expressions are obtained for the reflection (transmission) coefficients and ellipsometric angles of an anisotropic multilayer system. All analytical results are correlated with the numerical solution of the reflection problem on the basis of rigorous electromagnetic theory for anisotropic layered systems. The possibilities of using obtained approximate formulae for resolving the inverse problem for ultrathin anisotropic dielectric films upon absorbing substrates are discussed.     

Reflection of electromagnetic plane waves in a long-wavelength approximation from a multilayer system of anisotropic transparent films on non-absorbing isotropic medium

The reflection of s- and p-polarised electromagnetic plane waves from an N-layer system of anisotropic dielectric films upon transparent homogeneous substrate is investigated in the long-wavelength approximation. The analytical expressions are obtained for the amplitude reflection (transmission) coefficients, reflectances (transmittances), and ellipsometric angles of an anisotropic multilayer thin-film system. All analytical results are in agreement with the numerical solution of the reflection problem for anisotropic stratified medium. The possibilities of using obtained expressions for resolving the inverse problem for ultrathin anisotropic films upon isotropic substrates are discussed.     

Interface controlled electronic charge inhomogeneities in correlated heterostructures

For heterostructures of ultrathin, strongly correlated copper-oxide films and dielectric perovskite layers, we predict inhomogeneous electronic interface states. Our study is based on an extended Hubbard model for the cuprate film. The interface is implemented by a coupling to the electron and phonon degrees of freedom of the dielectric oxide layer. We find that electronic ordering in the film is associated with a strongly inhomogeneous polaron effect. We propose to consider the interfacial tuning as a powerful mechanism to control the charge ordering in correlated electronic systems.     

Inverse relationships for ellipsometry of uniaxially anisotropic nanoscale dielectric films on isotropic materials

The possibilities of determining the optical parameters of uniaxially anisotropic non-absorbing ultrathin films on the basis of ellipsometric parameters are analyzed in the framework of a long-wavelength approximation. It is shown that the special convenience of this analytical approach lies in the fact that it enables to find out the situations where it is possible to decouple the optical constants and the thickness (to provide correlation-free measurements) of an anisotropic ultrathin film. The accuracy of the obtained formulas for determining the parameters of ultrathin films is estimated by computer simulation of the reflection problem on the basis of the exact electromagnetic theory for anisotropic layered systems.     

Laser probing of anisotropic ultrathin dielectric films on absorbing materials via differential reflection characteristics

The reflection from an ultrathin anisotropic film on an isotropic absorbing substrate is investigated in the long-wavelength limit. The analytical expressions for the differential reflection characteristics of s- and p-polarized electromagnetic plane waves are obtained. All analytical results are correlated with the numerical solution of the reflection problem on the basis of rigorous electromagnetic theory for anisotropic medium. The possibilities of using the obtained approximate formulas for resolving the inverse problem for ultrathin anisotropic dielectric films upon absorbing substrates are discussed.     

Manifestation of a ferroelectric phase transition in ultrathin films of polyvinylidene fluoride

Temperature dependences of the dielectric properties of ultrathin polyvinylidene fluoride films prepared using the Langmuir-Blodgett method were studied by linear and nonlinear dielectric spectroscopy. It is shown that ultrathin Langmuir films of polyvinylidene fluoride exhibit a manifestation of a first-order ferroelectric phase transition, which can be assigned to the interaction between the spontaneous polarization and the surfaces bounding the film. As the film thickness increases, the effect of the surfaces decreases and the ferroelectric phase transition shifts to high temperatures to vanish altogether when the temperature region of the transition rises above the melting point.     

Time domain de Broglie wave interferometry along a magnetic guide

Propagation and tunneling of light through photonic barriers formed by thin dielectric films with continuous curvilinear distributions of dielectric susceptibility across the film, are considered. Giant heterogeneity-induced dispersion of these films, both convex and concave, and its influence on their reflectivity and transmittivity are visualized by means of exact analytical solutions of Maxwell equations. Depending on the cut-off frequency of the film, governed by the spatial profile of its refractive index, propagation or tunneling of light through such barriers are examined. Subject to the shape of refractive index profile the group velocities of EM waves in these films are shown to be either increased or deccreased as compared with the homogeneous layers; however, these velocities for both propagation and tunneling regimes remain subluminal. The decisive influence of gradient and curvature of photonic barriers on the efficiency of tunneling is examined by means of generalized Fresnel formulae. Saturation of the phase of the wave tunneling through a stack of such films (Hartman effect), is demonstrated. The evanescent modes in lossy barriers and violation of Hartman effect in this case is discussed.     

含n＝k超薄金属膜的周期对称膜系的性质及窄带高反膜设计

本文阐述了n≈k的超薄金属膜与介质膜组成周期对称膜系的光学特性,并结合Ag、Al等膜层的高反特性提出了可见光区诱导窄带高反膜系结构,推导出膜系的反射率、反射峰值、反射半波带宽等光谱反射特性的近似公式,实验证实了理论设计和分析.同时也提出了设计红外和紫外窄带高反滤光片的方法.     

Infrared ellipsometry of nanometric anisotropic dielectric layers on absorbing materials

An inversion problem of infrared ellipsometry is resolved on the basis of a fresh mathematical approach, which does not use the traditional regression analysis for data handling and has no need of initial guesses for the desired parameters. It is shown that obtained simple analytical equations for ellipsometric quantities open up new possibilities for determining optical parameters of an anisotropic ultrathin layer. The novel method possesses very high sensitivity because it is based on the phase conversion measurements of polarized reflected light. The method is tested using a numerical simulation and the results demonstrate clearly that it is successfully applicable for nanometric layers in the infrared spectral region.     

Determination and analysis of the optical constants of thin films of nickel(II) and copper(II) hydrazone complexes by spectroscopic ellipsometry

Thin films of four nickel(II) and copper(II) hydrazone complexes, which will hopefully be used as recording layers for the next-generation of high-density recordable disks, were prepared by using the spin-coating method. Absorption spectra of the thin films on K9 optical glass substrates in the 300–700 nm wavelength region were measured. Optical constants (complex refractive indices N) and thickness d of the thin films prepared on single-crystal silicon substrates in the 275–675 nm wavelength region were investigated on a rotating analyzer-polarizer scanning ellipsometer by fitting the measured ellipsometric angles (Ψ(λ) and Δ(λ)) with a 3-layer model (Si/dye film/air). The dielectric functions ε and absorption coefficients α as a function of the wavelength were then calculated. Additionally, a design to achieve high reflectivity and optimum dye film thickness with an appropriate reflective layer was performed with the Film Wizard software using a multilayered model (PC substrate/reflective layer/dye film/air) at 405 nm wavelength. PACS 81.05.L; 78.20.Ci; 78.20.-e     

Measuring the Magnetooptic Kerr effect by diffraction

A method is presented to measure the Magnetooptic Kerr Effect (MOKE) by diffraction. This is accomplished by giving the magnetized surface a magnetization distribution which functions like a linear diffraction grating. It is shown that the first and higher orders of the light diffracted by such a grating are produced by MOKE whereas the zero order approximately represents the reflectivity of the surface (given by the Fresnel formulae assuming zero magnetization). The procedure used here to form a grating is restricted to thin soft magnetic films, and has been demonstrated on evaporated Fe-Ni films. It uses the magnetic field of a pulse-driven meandered stripe-conductor placed in close contact with the film in the presence of a homogeneous external magnetic field. Experimentally determined Kerr intensities were compared with those measured by ellipsometric methods. Good agreement was found in the case of films with uniaxial anisotropy. For films with no anisotropy, the relative dependence of Kerr intensity vs wavelength, polarisation and angle of incidence could be derived.     

Ellipsometric in situ measurements during deposition of amorphous CuxSn100−x films

Amorphous metallic films are produced by quench condensation onto a 4K cold Si substrate under ultra high vacuum conditions. During evaporation the film growth is recorded in situ ellipsometrically. At the same time the mass of the film is measured with quartz microbalances. It is shown that the dielectric constants are dependent on film thickness. Different film models for evaluating the ellipsometric measurements are used and tested. The influence of porosity and interface roughness is taken into account. The dependence of mass density on thickness is mainly understood in terms of island growth. The dependence of the dielectric constant on concentration is discussed with respect to the Faber-Ziman theory.Dedicated to Prof. Dr. G. von Minnigerode on the occasion of his 60th birthday     

Optical constants of thin oxide films on titanium

Thin oxide films on titanium formed by heating were studied by the ellipsometric method. To obtain the complex refractive index and film thicknesses, the ellipsometric measurements were performed by means of the immersing method: each sample was measured first in air and then in a liquid of known refractive index (in our case CCl₄). The optical constants and the oxide film thickness were computed by means of a computer from two pairs of ellipsometric values. To state the optical constants of clean titanium surface the graphic-computational method was proposed and applied. The measurements were carried out at two wavelengths on oxide films grown in air and dry oxygen by thermal oxidation at temperatures from 150 to 700 °C. It has been shown that when increasing the film thickness the refractive index of the film decreases, whereas the absorption coefficient is independent on the film thickness. Optical constants of oxide films growing in dry oxygen are smaller than those growing in air.     

Accurate analysis of ellipsometric data for thick transparent films

Using e-beam evaporation, the ellipsometric parameters of thick transparent films are studied with the modified analysis method for the SiO 2 film samples deposited onto the Si substrate. The ellipsometric parameters are measured at the incidence angles changing from 50 to 70 and in the 3–4.5 eV photon energy range. The error in the conventional method can be significantly reduced by the modified ellipsometric method considering the spatial effect to show good agreement between the theoretical and experimental results. The new method presented in this letter can be applied to other optical measurement of the periodic or non-periodic film structures.     

基底微缺陷对介质薄膜光学性能影响的理论研究

基于非均匀膜理论提出一种存在微缺陷的介质基底的折射率分层模型，将基底依次分为表面层、亚表面层和体材料层，其中表面层和亚面层分别等效为折射率服从统计分布的非均匀膜，将它们分别再次细分为N₁和N₂个子层，每一子层均视为均匀介质 膜.应用光学薄膜特征矩阵法对其进行理论分析，并对单层介质膜的光学性能进行数值计算. 研究结果表明：基底的表面和亚表面微缺陷改变了薄膜和基底的等效折射率，导致了准Brew ster角和组合反射率与理想情形的偏离.同时这些微缺陷也改变了光在薄膜和基底中的传播 特性，因此反射相移和相位差均偏离理想情形.在研究基底的微缺陷对多层介质膜光学性能 影响的分析和计算时，该模型同样适用. 关键词： 微缺陷 介质薄膜 非均匀膜 光学性能     

Application of spectroscopic ellipsometry to the investigation of the optical properties of cobalt-nanostructured silica thin layers

Spectroscopic ellipsometry is used to investigate optical properties of cobalt-implanted silica thin films. The films under investigation are 250 nm thick thermal SiO₂ layers on Si substrates implanted with Co⁺ ions at energy of 160 keV and at fluences of 10¹⁷ ions/cm² for different temperatures of substrate during implantation (77 and 295 K). Changes due to Co⁺ implantation are clearly observed in the optical response of the films. Optical behaviours are furthermore different for the three implantation temperatures. To understand the optical responses of these layers, the ellipsometric experimental data are compared to different models including interference effects and metal inclusions effects into the dielectric layer. The simulated ellipsometric data are obtained by calculating the interferences of an inhomogeneous layer on a Si substrate. The material within this layer is considered as an effective medium which dielectric function is calculated using the Maxwell-Garnett effective medium approximation. We show that although the structures of these layers are very complicated because of ion-implantation mechanisms, quite simple models can provide relatively good agreement. The possibilities of ellipsometry for the study of the optical properties of such clusters-embedded films are discussed. We especially provide the evidence that ellipsometry can give interesting information about the optical properties of nanostructured layers. This is of special interest in the field of nanostructured layered systems where ellipsometry appears to be a suitable optical characterization technique.     

Photoalignment of liquid crystals by cinnamate polyelectrolyte layer-by-layer ultrathin film

In this paper, a new layer-by-layer (LBL) ultrathin film with photosensitive cinnamoyl chromophores was prepared. It could induce uniform alignment of liquid crystals (LC) after irradiated by linearly polarized ultraviolet (LPUV) light. First, a photosensitive polycation containing cinnamoyl side groups was synthesized. Then a layer-by-layer ultrathin film was prepared in an aqueous solution of the polycations and poly (sodium 4-styrenesulphonate). The spectra of UV-vis absorption and ellipsometric measurement showed that the LBL film was uniform and suitable for the photoalignment of LC. When the film was irradiated by LPUV light, the cinnamoyl units in the film underwent [2 + 2] cycloaddition along the electric vector direction of the LPUV light. The polarized UV-vis spectra also proved that the film was anisotropic, and then the film could induce the homogeneous alignment of nematic LC. With the number of bilayers increasing, the alignment effect of multilayer film became better, and the contrast ratio became higher.     

用椭偏术研究与接触介质有关的贵金属的介电函数

为了研究接触介质对金属光学性质的影响，实验中使用具有不同折射率的梯形棱镜作为衬底，将金和银蒸发到棱镜底部，用椭偏术分别测量了薄膜在金属-空气、金属-衬底界面的介电函数.结果表明：无论在Drude区，还是在带间跃迁区，金属-衬底界面处薄膜介电函数不仅与金属-空气界面处的测量值不同，而且随衬底折射率改变而改变.在固体接触条件下获得的结果与其他作者在液体接触条件下获得的结果相一致，但尚难被现有机制所解释. 关键词：