A 4+1 phase shifting algorithm for rotating-compensator spectroscopic ellipsometry

A 4+1 phase shifting algorithm is proposed for rotating-compensator spectroscopic ellipsometry (RCSE). The spectroscopic ellipsometric parameters are determined with five spectra, taken when the compensator is rotated at the detection angles of 0°, 45°, 90°, 135°, and an additional detection angle of 22.5°. There is no need to take the dark spectrum of the spectrometer for error correction using the new method, compared to Lee’s method [2] which also utilizes five spectra for RCSE. It also indicates the algorithm designed to suppress the second harmonic frequency component in traditional phase shifting algorithm is helpful to determine both fundamental and second harmonic frequency components. By taking an additional spectrum, both the two harmonic frequency components of spectra in RCSE are determined by the designed 4+1 phase shifting algorithm.