Abstract
The authors describe and interpret curvature-related changes to the ellipsometric readout. As model system for a concave curvature, a set of three spherical microscopic indents in silicon (100) of different sizes was prepared by instrumented indentation testing using a spherical indenter. For reference, these samples were characterized by AFM to reveal the topography of each structure. The concavelike indents were analyzed by Mueller-Matrix imaging ellipsometry to extract lateral intensity images of 12 elements of the Mueller-Matrix. As a result of the detailed analysis of the image elements m22, m23, and m14, it was possible to correlate intensity changes and symmetry properties to depolarization and cross polarization induced by the edge threshold and the curved surface of the indent.
Highlights
During the last few decades, imaging ellipsometry has shown tremendous potential to analyze topographic surface features on the lateral scale down to the microscopic range.1,11–14 The obvious advantage of the Mueller-Matrix (MM) imaging technique is the visibility of spatial changes for both depolarizing and nondepolarizing samples
of different sizes was prepared by instrumented indentation testing using a spherical indenter
these samples were characterized by AFM to reveal the topography of each structure
Summary
During the last few decades, imaging ellipsometry has shown tremendous potential to analyze topographic surface features on the lateral scale down to the microscopic range. The obvious advantage of the Mueller-Matrix (MM) imaging technique is the visibility of spatial changes for both depolarizing and nondepolarizing samples. The obvious advantage of the Mueller-Matrix (MM) imaging technique is the visibility of spatial changes for both depolarizing and nondepolarizing samples. This capability was widely used to detect changes of dielectric properties of the surface, e.g., by adding a thin layer of a different material or detecting residues of adhesives on the surface. It was found that the surface topography alone can result in a lateral contrast in the Mueller-Matrix elements albeit the correlation to structural conditions remains unknown. A systematic study of different topographic features is necessary and highly symmetrical structures such as spherical caps or indents offer a suitable starting point. We provide results on concavelike indents prepared by nanoindentation with a spherical nanoindenter
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