Accuracy of Determining the Optical Parameters of Thin Films by the Method of the Reflectance-Spectrum Extrema Envelopes

Abstract

A technique to evaluate the accuracy with which the optical parameters of thin films are determined by the method of reflectance-spectrum extrema envelopes is presented. The general case of s-polarized light impinging obliquely on a weakly absorbing thin film formed on an absorbing substrate is discussed. Rather simple analytical expressions are derived which can easily be used in program realization on computers for calculating errors. On the basis of the error analysis, a procedure for determining the optical constants and thickness of thin films is proposed, which allows one to reach the maximum accuracy in solving the inverse problem of spectrophotometry. The optical constants and the thicknesses of the films of perylenetetracarboxylic acid and 2-[4-(4-aminophenyl)phenyliminomethyl]phenol formed on silicon substrates are found by the developed technique in the spectral range 550–900 nm.