Characterization of Ultrathin Dielectric Films With the Prism-Coupler Method

Author

Chiang, Kin Seng ; Cheng, Sin Yip ; Liu, Qing

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electron. Eng., City Univ. of Hong Kong

Volume

25

Issue

5

fYear

2007

fDate

5/1/2007 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1206

Lastpage

1212

Abstract

We demonstrate a technique of applying the prism-coupler method to the characterization of dielectric films that are too thin to support enough guided modes in air for the normal application of the method. The technique is based on applying suitable index-matching liquids on the surface of the thin film to increase the number of effective indexes available for the determination of the refractive index and the thickness of the film. With this technique, even thin films that do not support any guided modes in air can be characterized. We apply the technique to the characterization of polymer thin films as thin as 100-200 nm and discuss its performance and limitation

Keywords

dielectric thin films; materials testing; optical couplers; optical films; optical polymers; optical prisms; polymer films; refractive index; 100 to 200 nm; dielectric films; guided modes; index-matching liquids; polymer thin films; prism-coupler method; refractive index; thin film surface; ultrathin films; Dielectric films; Dielectric thin films; Optical films; Optical polymers; Optical refraction; Optical variables control; Optical waveguides; Polarization; Polymer films; Transistors; Optical films; optical planar waveguides; optical polymers; optical waveguides; thin films;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Lightwave Technology, Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0733-8724

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/JLT.2007.893024

Filename

4167950