From a series of ellipsometric measurements it is now possible to obtain uniquely all of the optical parameters of the system; absorbing substrate+nonabsorbing surface film. The method utilizes the fact that the reflectance of such a system at normal incidence remains essentially constant for a small but finite range of surface-film thicknesses. Furthermore, it hinges on the fact that the ellipsometric parameters Δ and ψ, measured on different film thicknesses grown on the same sample, are compatible with only one choice of the complex refractive index n₂ +ik₂ of the substrate and the refractive index n₁ of the film. Measurements on chemically etched samples of silicon yield n₂ = 4.05₂ and k₂ = 0.02₉, in agreement with the results of earlier workers. Measurements on cleaved samples of silicon, on the other hand, reveal that the true values are n₂ = 4.14₀±0.02 and k₂ = 0.03₄±0.01 for 5461 Å.

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