Ellipsometric analysis for surface roughness and texture

A 2-D symmetric model is incorporated into the calculation of the ellipsometric parameters Psi and Delta for surface roughness and texture characterization based on the effective medium theory. The least-squares fits of the experimental data at a 5-microm IR wavelength for rough fused silica samples at multiple angles of incidence give the standard deviations of Psi and Delta of about twice the instrumental errors. The effective thickness and the depolarization factor obtained by ellipsometry agree with the roughness and average height-to-halfwidth ratio of voids obtained by stylus profilometry. The surface texture can be characterized by the fit depolarization factors set. The excellent agreement between theory and experiments indicates that ellipsometry can be a promising nondestructive technique for rough-surface evaluation.