Systematic errors in fixed polarizer, rotating polarizer, sample, fixed analyzer spectroscopic ellipsometry

A fixed polarizer, rotating polarizer, sample, fixed analyzer spectroscopic ellipsometer has been developed. This configuration eliminates the errors from the light source residual polarization and those from the monochromator and detection system. Explicit expressions for systematic errors are presented. Starting from a general formalism, we derived first-order expressions for the errors caused by azimuthal offsets and residual ellipticity introduced by imperfect polarizers and windows. It is shown that the calibration errors for the analyzer, the polarizer and the top zero error of the rotating polarizer may be eliminated by the usual two zone procedure with the exception of the errors originating from the imperfections of the cell windows. Comparison is made with measurement results. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A.