Method to improve the accuracy of super-smooth surface scatter data

An approach to increase the signal-to-noise ratio of the scatter data (hence its accuracy) when studying super-smooth surfaces is proposed. It consists of increasing the power of the illuminating source. Since stray scattering is no longer negligible in such an operation, a solution to alter the instrument signature is given. To prove their stability, the cross section data from a silicon carbide mirror are used in a singular manner to extract roughness parameters mainly the root mean square roughness and the correlation length. Results are satisfactory as they feature low dispersion and are consistant with the approximation used.