Comparative study of Vašíček's theory, Murmann-Försterling's theory and single reflection theory of thin film optics

Abstract

Vašíček's theory and the Murmann-Försterling theory for determining the optical constants of thin metallic films, using ellipsometric parameters, are compared with the single reflection theory. Optical constants for thin metallic films are theoretically evaluated for wide ranges of azimuth ψ, phase difference Δ and film thickness/wavelength factor; the three theories are studied by comparing optical constants obtained for various values of the film thickness/wavelength factor. It is shown that the three theories lead to almost the same values of optical constants for certain ranges of variables. It is further shown that in other ranges, Vašíček's theory and the Murmann-Försterling theory agree with each other or one of them agrees with the single reflection theory. However, the study is restricted to the following values only: angle of incidence 75°, and refractive indices of substrate and air 1.500 and 1.000, respectively.