THE STUDY OF VERY THIN FILMS BY ELLIPTICALLY POLARIZED LIGHT

The use of elliptically polarized light to study very thin films on metal surfaces involves several pitfalls and possible sources of error. These difficulties include absorbing layers at the metal-dielectric interface, calibration using barium stearate monolayers, anomalously high refraction indices in the Drude equations, and complex null adjustments. (D. L.C)