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.