High-Speed Ellipsometer For Thin-Film Deposition Monitoring

A conceptual design for a no-moving-parts ellipsometer with a calibration procedure to remove effects of imperfect components and detector sensitivity differences is described. The device is particularly useful for infrared (IR) coating monitoring, where high deposition rates are used and where detectors may be polarization-sensitive. A calibration scheme that uses only linearly polarized beams and no retardation components has been devised.