Method and apparatus for measuring refractive index and thickness of film
First Claim
1. An apparatus for measuring a refractive index and a thickness of a thin film formed on a substrate, comprising:
- a first light source for emitting a first monochromatic light having a wavelength λ
;
a second light source for emitting a second monochromatic light having a wavelength λ
'"'"', which is different from that of said first monochromatic light;
a light changing means for changing a light to be irradiated onto said thin film by selecting one of said emitted first monochromatic light and said emitted second monochromatic light;
an incident angle changing means for changing an incident angle of said selected monochromatic light and for detecting said changed incident angle of said selected monochromatic light;
a detection means adapted to detect a reflection light reflected from said substrate, to measure a reflectance of said detected reflection light, to determine two arbitrary minima or two arbitrary maxima of said measured reflectance corresponding to a change of said incident angle of said first monochromatic light on the basis of said detected incident angle of said emitted first monochromatic light to thereby determine respectively two incident angles θ
1 and θ
2 corresponding to said determined two arbitrary minima or said determined two arbitrary maxima when said emitted first monochromatic light is selected by said light changing means, and to determine a single minimum or maximum of said measured reflectance corresponding to a change of said incident angle of said second monochromatic light on the basis of said detected incident angle of said emitted second monochromatic light to thereby determine an incident angle θ
3 corresponding to said single minimum or maximum when said emitted second monochromatic light is selected by said light changing means; and
a calculation means adapted to calculate refractive indices and thicknesses of said thin film on the basis of said wavelength λ and
said determined two incident angles θ
1 and θ
2 as varying orders of interference m1 and m2 as parameters according to the following equations;
##EQU4##
space="preserve" listing-type="equation">n.sub.f ={(m.sub.1.sup.2 sin .sup.2 θ
.sub.2 -m.sub.2.sup.2 sin .sup.2 θ
.sub.1)/(m.sub.1.sup.2 -m.sub.2.sup.2)}1/2wherein m1 and m2 represent said orders of interference, nf represents said refractive index of said thin film, and d represents said thickness of said thin film, to calculate refractive indices n'"'"'f of said thin film on the basis of said wavelength λ
'"'"', said determined incident angle θ
3 and said calculated thickness d as varying an order of interference m as a parameter according to the following equation;
space="preserve" listing-type="equation">n'"'"'.sub.f ={(m.sup.2 ·
λ
'"'"'.sup.2 /4d.sup.2)+sin .sup.2 θ
.sub.3 }1/2to compare a value of each of said calculated refractive indices nf with another value of each of said calculated refractive indices n'"'"'f with respect to a pair of said calculated refractive indices nf and n'"'"'f which represent an identical thickness, to determine a pair of refractive indices nf and n'"'"'f as genuine refractive indices for said wavelengths λ and
λ
'"'"', and to specify a film thickness corresponding to said specified refractive indices nf and n'"'"'f as a genuine value of said thickness of said thin film.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method for measuring a refractive index and a thickness of a dielectric thin film formed on a substrate. The method comprises the following four steps. A step for irradiating a thin film on a substrate with a monochromatic light of a wavelength λ, changing the incident angle thereof so as to measure a change of the energy reflection ratio or reflectance in response to changes of the incident angle and detect two incident angles θ1 and θ2 which correspond to two extreme values of the reflectance change. A step for irradiating the thin film with a monochromatic light of a wavelength λ'"'"', changing an incident angle thereof so as to measure change of reflectance in response to the change of the incident angle and detect an incident angle θ3 which corresponds to an extreme value of the energy change. A step for calculating the refractive indices and thicknesses of the thin film, on the basis of the incident angle values θ1 and θ2, changing the interference degree number used as a parameter. And a step for determining the thickness of the thin film and the refractive indices thereof with respect to the light of a wavelength λ and the light of a wavelength λ'"'"', on the basis of the incident angle value θ3 and the data calculated as mentioned above. The method makes it possible to easily and accurately carry out the measurement.
25 Citations
8 Claims
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1. An apparatus for measuring a refractive index and a thickness of a thin film formed on a substrate, comprising:
-
a first light source for emitting a first monochromatic light having a wavelength λ
;a second light source for emitting a second monochromatic light having a wavelength λ
'"'"', which is different from that of said first monochromatic light;a light changing means for changing a light to be irradiated onto said thin film by selecting one of said emitted first monochromatic light and said emitted second monochromatic light; an incident angle changing means for changing an incident angle of said selected monochromatic light and for detecting said changed incident angle of said selected monochromatic light; a detection means adapted to detect a reflection light reflected from said substrate, to measure a reflectance of said detected reflection light, to determine two arbitrary minima or two arbitrary maxima of said measured reflectance corresponding to a change of said incident angle of said first monochromatic light on the basis of said detected incident angle of said emitted first monochromatic light to thereby determine respectively two incident angles θ
1 and θ
2 corresponding to said determined two arbitrary minima or said determined two arbitrary maxima when said emitted first monochromatic light is selected by said light changing means, and to determine a single minimum or maximum of said measured reflectance corresponding to a change of said incident angle of said second monochromatic light on the basis of said detected incident angle of said emitted second monochromatic light to thereby determine an incident angle θ
3 corresponding to said single minimum or maximum when said emitted second monochromatic light is selected by said light changing means; anda calculation means adapted to calculate refractive indices and thicknesses of said thin film on the basis of said wavelength λ and
said determined two incident angles θ
1 and θ
2 as varying orders of interference m1 and m2 as parameters according to the following equations;
##EQU4##
space="preserve" listing-type="equation">n.sub.f ={(m.sub.1.sup.2 sin .sup.2 θ
.sub.2 -m.sub.2.sup.2 sin .sup.2 θ
.sub.1)/(m.sub.1.sup.2 -m.sub.2.sup.2)}1/2wherein m1 and m2 represent said orders of interference, nf represents said refractive index of said thin film, and d represents said thickness of said thin film, to calculate refractive indices n'"'"'f of said thin film on the basis of said wavelength λ
'"'"', said determined incident angle θ
3 and said calculated thickness d as varying an order of interference m as a parameter according to the following equation;
space="preserve" listing-type="equation">n'"'"'.sub.f ={(m.sup.2 ·
λ
'"'"'.sup.2 /4d.sup.2)+sin .sup.2 θ
.sub.3 }1/2to compare a value of each of said calculated refractive indices nf with another value of each of said calculated refractive indices n'"'"'f with respect to a pair of said calculated refractive indices nf and n'"'"'f which represent an identical thickness, to determine a pair of refractive indices nf and n'"'"'f as genuine refractive indices for said wavelengths λ and
λ
'"'"', and to specify a film thickness corresponding to said specified refractive indices nf and n'"'"'f as a genuine value of said thickness of said thin film. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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Specification