Misalignment errors of the composite wave-plate, a typical kind of compensator used in spectroscopic ellipsometers (SE), can lead to spurious oscillations in the SE measurement. In this paper, we construct an equivalent model of the three-inone composite wave-plate through mathematical derivation, and propose a method to analyze and extract the misalignment errors of the composite wave-plate. Obvious oscillations have been observed in the equivalent fast axis azimuth of the composite wave-plate through simulations, and these oscillations can be assigned to the angular misalignment errors between the individual plates of the composite wave-plate. The waveforms and amplitudes of the oscillations in the equivalent fast axis azimuth show high sensitivity to angular misalignment errors. Conversely, angular misalignment errors can be accurately extracted from the oscillations in the equivalent fast axis of the composite wave-plate. It is expected that the proposed method for analysis and extraction of misalignment errors can be used to minimize angular misalignment errors and to improve the alignment procedure of the composite wave-plate.

Date Published: 31 January 2013
PDF: 6 pages
Proc. SPIE 8759, Eighth International Symposium on Precision Engineering Measurement and Instrumentation, 87593C (31 January 2013); doi: 10.1117/12.2014580

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 8759:
Eighth International Symposium on Precision Engineering Measurement and Instrumentation
Jie Lin, Editor(s)