Spectroscopic ellipsometer and polarimeter systems

A spectroscopic ellipsometer or polarimeter system comprising a source of a polychromatic beam of electromagnetic radiation, a polarizer, a stage for supporting a material system, an analyzer, a dispersive optics and at least one detector system which comprises a multiplicity of detector elements arranged in a selection from the group consisting of:

• one-dimensional;
• and
• multi-dimensional;
• array, said spectroscopic ellipsometer or polarimeter system further comprising at least one pseudo-achromatic compensator positioned at a location selected from the group consisting of:
• before said stage for supporting a material system;
• after said stage for supporting a material system;
• and
• both before and after said stage for supporting a material system;
• such that when said spectroscopic ellipsometer or polarimeter is used to investigate a material system present on said stage for supporting a material system, a polychromatic beam of electromagnetic radiation produced by said source of a polychromatic beam of electromagnetic radiation is caused to pass through said polarizer, interact with a material system on said stage for supporting a material system, pass through said analyzer and interact with said dispersive optics such that a multiplicity of essentially single wavelengths are caused to simultaneously enter a corresponding multiplicity of detector elements in said at least one detector system;
• said spectroscopic ellipsometer or polarimeter system further comprising an environmental control chamber in which the spectroscopic ellipsometer or polarimeter is functionally contained, said environmental control chamber being characterized by a selection from the group consisting of:
• it comprises at least one chamber region in which is present polarization state generator (PSG) comprising component(s) prior to said material system and polarization state detector (PSD) comprising component(s) after said material system, and optionally also contains said material system (MS);
• it comprises three chamber regions, in one of which is present polarization state generator comprising component(s) prior to said material system, in the second of which is present the material system and in the third of which is present polarization state detector comprising component(s) after said material system;
• it comprises at least two chamber regions, in one of which is present polarization state generator comprising component(s) prior to said material system in addition to said material system, and in the second of which is present polarization state detector comprising component(s) present after said material system;
• it comprises at least two chamber regions, in one of which is present polarization state generator comprising component(s) prior to said material system, and in the second of which is present polarization state detector comprising component(s) after said material system in addition to said material system.

A method of quickly simultaneously taking data at a multiplicity of wavelengths including wavelengths which are, and are not absorbed by environmental components, comprising the steps of:

• a) providing a spectroscopic ellipsometer or polarimeter system comprising a source of a polychromatic beam of electromagnetic radiation, a polarizer, a stage for supporting a material system, an analyzer, a dispersive optics and at least one detector system which comprises a multiplicity of detector elements;
• such that when said spectroscopic ellipsometer or polarimeter is used to investigate a material system present on said stage for supporting a material system, a polychromatic beam of electromagnetic radiation produced by said source of a polychromatic beam of electromagnetic radiation is caused to pass through said polarizer and interact with a material system on said stage for supporting a material system, then pass through said analyzer, and interact with said dispersive optics such that a multiplicity of essentially single wavelengths are caused to simultaneously enter a corresponding multiplicity of detector elements in said at least one detector system;
• said spectroscopic ellipsometer or polarimeter system further comprising an environmental control chamber in which the spectroscopic ellipsometer or polarimeter is functionally contained, said environmental control chamber being characterized by a selection from the group consisting of:
• it comprises at least one chamber region in which is present polarization state generator comprising component(s) prior to said material system, said material system, and polarization state detector comprising component(s) after said material system;
• it comprises three chamber regions, in one of which is present polarization state generator comprising component(s) prior to said material system, in the second of which is present the material system and in the third of which is present polarization state detector comprising component(s) after said material system;
• it comprises at least two chamber regions, in one of which is present polarization state generator comprising component(s) prior to said material system in addition to said material system, and in the second of which is present polarization state detector comprising component(s) present after said material system;
• it comprises at least two chamber regions, in one of which is present polarization state generator comprising component(s) prior to said material system, and in the second of which is present polarization state detector comprising component(s) after said material system in addition to said material system;
• b) placing a material system on said stage for supporting a material system and at least partially purging or evacuating said environmental control chamber;
• c) causing said source of polychromatic beam of electromagnetic radiation to provide a polychromatic beam of electromagnetic radiation and causing said beam to interact with said material system on said stage for supporting a material system, and interact with said dispersive optics such that a multiplicity of essentially single wavelengths are caused to simultaneously enter a corresponding multiplicity of detector elements in said at least one detector system.

A method of providing a compensator system comprising two sequential elements oriented with respect to one another such that an entered electromagnetic beam undergoes total internal reflection at least once in each of the elements, with the sequence, orientation, geometry, and symmetry of the elements being such that the locus of output beam from said system is substantially undeviated from that of the input beam by a translation of the system, and the locus of the output beam angle is substantially undeviated from that of the input beam by a rotation of the system;

• said method comprising the steps of:
• a) providing a system comprising two sequential elements oriented with respect to one another such that entered electromagnetic beam undergoes total internal reflection at least once in each of the elements, at least one of said elements being mounted to allow translation and/or rotation thereof with respect to another of said elements;
• b) causing a beam of electromagnetic radiation to enter and exit from said sequence of elements;
• c) effecting translation and/or rotation of said element which is mounted to allow translation and/or rotation thereof with respect to another of said elements such that translation and/or rotation of said system causes reduced deviation of the locus of said exiting beam as compared to that of said input beam.