Rough surfaces of silicon and aluminum have been studied by rotating analyzer spectroscopic ellipsometry (RASE). The roughness of a silicon sample similar to that used for the RASE measurements was also studied by cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy. Total integrated scattering was measured on the aluminum specimens to obtain numerical estimates of the rms roughness. The ellipsometry measurements on these specimens were carried out at a number of angles of incidence in the 30–80° range and at a number of discrete wavelengths in the 300–650-nm spectral range. The RASE results were hen analyzed using the Bruggeman effective-medium theory for the Si sample and scalar diffraction theory for the Al samples. This study shows that 70° is the optimum angle of incidence for characterizing the roughness of these Al surfaces using RASE. It also demonstrates the self-consistency of the Bruggeman theory with angular variation for the Si sample. The need for a vector diffraction theory for the retation of the rms roughness using ellipsometric angles Δ and Ψ is discussed.

© 1991 Optical Society of America

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