Abstract

We describe a new method for obtaining the optical constants of a material based upon measurement of the relative derivative of reflectance with angle of incidence (1/R)(dR/dθ). The systematic optical errors in this system were reduced to about 5 × 10⁻⁴ rad⁻¹. The relative accuracy in (1/R)(dR/dθ) was then typically five times better than the relative accuracy in the optical absorptance (1 − R₀) measured in a standard reflectometer. Systematic calibration errors were comparable with those for a reflectometer and were about 0.6%. Used in conjunction with a normal incidence reflectometer, the system provides the optical constants of materials in regions where the reflectivity is not high. When the reflectivity approaches unity, as it does for metals in the ir, the measured quantity (for light of both polarizations) becomes proportional to (1 − R₀) and may be used to measure the absorptance of a sample with an accuracy of about 3%.

© 1972 Optical Society of America

New Ellipsometric Method for the Determination of the Optical Constants of Thin Films and Surfaces*†

S. C. Som and Chitralekha Chowdhury
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 62(1) 10-15 (1972)

Derivation of Optical Constants of Metals from Thin-Film Measurements at Oblique Incidence

J. E. Nestell and R. W. Christy
Appl. Opt. 11(3) 643-651 (1972)

Photometric methods for determining the optical constants and the thicknesses of thin absorbing films: selection of a combination of photometric quantities on the basis of error analysis

Tzwetanka Babeva, Snejana Kitova, and Ivan Konstantinov
Appl. Opt. 40(16) 2675-2681 (2001)

Transmittance Method to Determine the Optical Constants of a Single Specimen*

P. J. Haysman and A. P. Lenham
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 62(3) 333-335 (1972)

Reflectometer for Determining Optical Constants

Roy F. Potter
Appl. Opt. 4(1) 53-57 (1965)