Method for determining properties of a sample by ellipsometry

Abstract

A method for determining properties of a sample (12) by ellipsometry includes positioning the sample (12) in an ellipsometer (10) so that a surface normal (n) of a measurement region of the sample surface is tilted relative to a reference axis (z) of the ellipsometer (10) and measuring a Mueller matrix for the measurement region. The method then includes creating an equation system by equating the measured Mueller matrix and a matrix product formed of: a rotation matrix about an input rotation angle (γ); an isotropic Mueller matrix in normalized NCS form and a rotation matrix about an output rotation angle (−δ). The method then solves the equation system for the parameters representing the sample properties to be determined. The input rotation angle (γ) and the output rotation angle (−δ) are set as parameters independent of one another when setting up the equation system.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.