Dynamic ellipsometry measurement based on a simplified phase-stable dual-comb system

Spectroscopic ellipsometry is a powerful tool for characterizing thin film, polarization optics, semiconductors, and others. Conventional approaches are subject to restrictions of mechanical instability and measurement speed. The complex locking scheme of previous dual-comb spectroscopic ellipsometry belies its practicability. We present and demonstrate here dynamic spectroscopic ellipsometry based on a simplified phase-stable dual-comb system, which could realize the online dynamic measurement of optical properties of materials. A precision of 1.31 nm and a combined uncertainty of 13.80 nm (k = 2) in the thickness measurement of thin-film samples has been achieved. Moreover, the dynamic performance of the system is investigated under a high data acquisition rate (1 kHz) with a dynamic resolution of ellipsometric parameter better than 0.1 rad. (C) 2022 Optica Publishing Group under the terms of the Optica Open Access Publishing Agreement

Automated summary

This article introduces a dynamic spectroscopic ellipsometer based on a simplified phase-stable dual-comb system, which can measure the online dynamic optical properties of materials. It achieves high precision and combined uncertainty in thin-film sample measurements, and the dynamic performance of the system under high data acquisition rate is investigated.