Product Introduction

• Ellipsometers use a non-contacting, nondestructive technique for the measurement of surfaces and very thin films on surfaces with elliptically polarized light. Few measuring techniques are as direct or inherently as precise as ellipsometry. Quality ellipsometers can detect film and surface conditions less than an  Angstrom thick.

Ellipsometry is superior to alternate methods of thin film measurement such as reflectometry because two parameters (DELTA and PSI) instead of one (intensity) are independently determined in any single measurement. Two parameters (DELTA and PSI) measure the film refractive index in addition to the film thickness. Two independent parameters also place tighter constraints on models representing more complicated films. Ellipsometric measurements are insensitive to intensity fluctuations of the source, temperature drifts of electronic components, and macroscopic roughness which can be a serious problem in reflectometry but not in ellipsometry, for which absolute intensity measurements are not required.

Transparent films from under one angstrom up to several microns and absorbing films less than 500 angstroms thick can be measured ellipsometrically. The surface upon which the film is measured can be a semiconductor, dielectric or metal. The film can be transparent or absorbing in a medium of transparent solid, liquid, gas or vacuum. The measuring polarized light can range from the ultra violet to the Infrared.

Gaertner Scientific has helped pioneer this exciting field since the late 30's when we constructed our first polarizing spectrometer. We are proud of our past involvement and look forward to supplying our customers with instruments of the finest quality.

• Ellipsometry Standards are silicon wafers with a thermally grown silicon dioxide film which permit ellipsometers to be calibrated to high precision.

• Measuring Microscopes with the Electronic Eyepiece Micrometer M202E in place of your eyepiece convert virtually any microscope into a electronic digital measuring microscope with resolutions to a fraction of a micron. Traveling Microscopes mounted on Micrometer slides with over a 5 inch range make digital readings to 0.0002 mm or 50 millionths of an inch.

• Differential Stress Refractometer LDSR measures stress in commercial float, plate and sheet glass.

• Z87.1 Mini-Dioptometer checks goggles, welder’s lenses and eye glasses to the ANSI Z87.1 standard.