Optical thin film metrology for optoelectronics

The manufacturing of optoelectronic thin films is of key importance, because it underpins a significant number of industries. The aim of the European joint research project for optoelectronic thin film characterization (IND07) in the European Metrology Research Programme of EURAMET is to develop optical and X-ray metrologies for the assessment of quality as well as key parameters of relevant materials and layer systems. This work is intended to be a step towards the establishment of validated reference metrologies for the reliable characterization, and the development of calibrated reference samples with well-defined and controlled parameters. In a recent comprehensive study (including XPS, AES, GD-OES, GD-MS, SNMS, SIMS, Raman, SE, RBS, ERDA, GIXRD), Abou-Ras et al. (Microscopy and Microanalysis 17 [2011] 728) demonstrated that most characterization techniques have limitations and bottle-necks, and the agreement of the measurement results in terms of accurate, absolute values is not as perfect as one would expect. This paper focuses on optical characterization techniques, laying emphasis on hardware and model development, which determine the kind and number of parameters that can be measured, as well as their accuracy. Some examples will be discussed including optical techniques and materials for photovoltaics, biosensors and waveguides.