Ellipsometer

The J. A. Woollam Co. is a manufacturer of spectroscopic ellipsometers for non-destructive thin film and bulk material characterization. Spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) has become the standard for measuring thin film thickness and optical constants (n and k). Spectroscopic ellipsometry is used for characterization of all types of materials: dielectrics, semiconductors, metals, organics, and more.
We offer ellipsometers covering a spectral range to meet any need (from the vacuum UV to the far IR). Many upgrade options are available with our ellipsometers: automated sample translation, variable temperature (heating or cooling), focusing optics, liquid cells, etc
Ellipsometry Measurements
Ellipsometry is primarily interested in how p- and s- components change upon reflection or transmission in relation to each other. In this manner, the reference beam is part of the experiment. A known polarization is reflected or transmitted from the sample and the output polarization is measured. The change in polarization is the ellipsometry measurement, commonly written as:
Spectroscopic Ellipsometry Tutorial Ellipsometry Measurements equation
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A sample ellipsometry measurement is shown in Figure 6. The incident light is linear with both p- and s- components. The reflected light has undergone amplitude and phase changes for both p- and s- polarized light, and ellipsometry measures their changes.