Optical Constant Determination of Thin Films Condensed on Transmitting and Reflecting Substrates

Abstract

In this report, a new subtractive Kramers-Kronig computer program is described which can obtain accurate optical constants of a uniform thin film on a thick substrate using only the transmittance measurements of a single-film thickness. Preliminary results from existing data show that the optical properties of a dielectric film may depend, to a small degree, upon the thickness of the film. This effect seems to be more noticeable in films containing molecules, such as H2O and NH3, which readily form hydrogen bonds. Also described are two methods for extracting the optical constants of a dielectric thin film from measurements of the reflectance of a beam incident in a vacuum upon a film layer on a metal substrate. In one method, the dependence is observed of the reflectances of several thicknesses of the same film material upon its thickness. This method contains the assumption that the optical properties of a film material do not vary with changes in film thickness. The second method does not depend on this assumption. It uses the reflectance spectrum of a single-film thickness to compute the optical constants of the film from a dispersion relation.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 01, 1984
Accession Number
ADA140845

Entities

People

  • K. F. Palmer
  • M. Z. Williams

Organizations

  • Arnold Engineering Development Complex

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Advanced Electronics
  • Air Platforms

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Algorithms
  • Computer Programs
  • Dielectric Films
  • Dielectrics
  • Dispersion Relations
  • Films
  • Geometry
  • Materials
  • Mathematical Models
  • Optical Properties
  • Phase Shift
  • Radiation
  • Refraction
  • Refractive Index
  • Thickness
  • Thin Films

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Materials Science and Engineering.
  • Thin Film Deposition Science.