Applications of interferometric ellipsometry

In the polarization division interferometric ellipsometry, two orthogonal linearly polarized light are superposed with an interferometer and the state of polarization of the composite light is measured to obtain the phase difference between the two orthogonal linearly polarized light. The Polarimetric Interferometer based on the polarization division interferometric ellipsometry was devised to carry out the measurement of the thickness of transparent thin films. It was capable of measuring the optical thickness of the films of an order of nm with ease. It was applied to observe the surface dynamics caused by water vapor adsorption and desorption on a glass substrate. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)