Birefringence can be obtained from the phase difference (Delta) between the ordinary and the extraordinary rays for normal transmission through a birefringent slab. Rotating analyzer ellipsometry (RAE) and null ellipsometry (NE) were used to measure (Delta) . NE gives accurate phase spectrum which shows linear dependence of phase on wave-number. The phase spectrum by RAE looks like a damped oscillatory curve. The calibration of RAE against NE shows that the extrema of RAE phase spectrum correspond to (Delta) equals m(pi) of NE spectrum, where m equals integer; the phases near m (pi) + (pi) /2 are about the same from both methods. Error caused by partially coherent interference of the multiple reflected waves within the slab consists basically of the sinusoidal functions of (Delta) and its harmonics, and is zero at (Delta) equals m(pi) . These errors can be suppressed by the least-square fit of m to a quadratic function of 1/(lambda) . The birefringence spectrum measured for a sapphire sample in the 0.4 to 0.9 micrometers wavelength region agrees with the handbook values.

Date Published: 11 December 1992
PDF: 12 pages
Proc. SPIE 1746, Polarization Analysis and Measurement, (11 December 1992); doi: 10.1117/12.138797

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 1746:
Polarization Analysis and Measurement
Dennis H. Goldstein; Russell A. Chipman, Editor(s)