A one-stop, concise guide on determining and measuring thin film thickness by optical methods. This practical book covers the laws of electromagnetic radiation and interaction of light with matter, as well as the theory and practice of thickness measurement, and modern applications. In so doing, it shows the capabilities and opportunities of optical thickness determination and discusses the strengths and weaknesses of measurement devices along with their evaluation methods. Following an introduction to the topic, Chapter 2 presents the basics of the propagation of light and other electromagnetic radiation in space and matter. The main topic of this book, the determination of the thickness of a layer in a layer stack by measuring the spectral reflectance or transmittance, is treated in the following three chapters. The color of thin layers is discussed in chapter 6. Finally, in chapter 7, the author discusses several industrial applications of the layer thickness measurement, including high-reflection and anti-reflection coatings, photolithographic structuring of semiconductors, silicon on insulator, transparent conductive films, oxides and polymers, thin film photovoltaics, and heavily doped silicon. Aimed at industrial and academic researchers, engineers, developers and manufacturers involved in all areas of optical layer and thin optical film measurement and metrology, process control, real-time monitoring, and applications.

Ellipsometry is an experimental technique for determining the thickness and optical properties of thin films. It is ideally suited for films ranging in thickness from sub-nanometer to several microns. Spectroscopic measurements have greatly expanded the capabilities of this technique and introduced its use into all areas where thin films are found: semiconductor devices, flat panel and mobile displays, optical coating stacks, biological and medical coatings, protective layers, and more. While several scholarly books exist on the topic, this book provides a good introduction to the basic theory of the technique and its common applications. The target audience is not the ellipsometry scholar, but process engineers and students of materials science who are experts in their own fields and wish to use ellipsometry to measure thin film properties without becoming an expert in ellipsometry itself.

An essential guide to the applications and usage of the diffusive gradients in thin-films (DGT) technique for students and professionals.

This book focuses on the emerging class of new materials characterized by ultra-fine microstrucures. The NATO ASI which produced this book was the first international scientific meeting devoted to a discussion of the mechanical properties and deformation behavior of materials having grain sizes down to a few nanometers. Topics covered include superplasticity, tribology, and the supermodulus effect. Review chapters cover a variety of other themes including synthesis, characterization, thermodynamic stability, and general physical properties. Much of the work is concerned with the issue of how far conventional techniques and concepts can be extended toward atomic scale probing. Another key issue concerns the structure of nanocrystalline materials, in particular, what is the structure and composition of the internal boundaries. These ultra-fine microstructures have proved to challenge even the finest probes that the materials science community has today.

This new game book for understanding atoms at play aims to document diffusion processes and various other properties operative in advanced technological materials. Diffusion in functional organic chemicals, polymers, granular materials, complex oxides, metallic glasses, and quasi-crystals among other advanced materials is a highly interactive and synergic phenomenon. A large variety of atomic arrangements are possible. Each arrangement affects the performance of these advanced, polycrystalline multiphase materials used in photonics, MEMS, electronics, and other applications of current and developing interest. This book is written by pioneers in industry and academia for engineers, chemists, and physicists in industry and academia at the forefront of today's challenges in nanotechnology, surface science, materials science, and semiconductors.

The explosive growth in the semiconductor industry has caused a rapid evolution of thin film materials that lend themselves to the fabrication of state-of-the-art semiconductor devices. Early in the 1960s an old research technique named chemical vapour phase deposition (CVD), which has several unique advantages, developed into the most widely used technique for thin film preparation in electronics technology. In the last 25 years, tremendous advances have been made in the science and technology of thin films prepared by means of CVD. This book presents in a single volume, an up-to-date overview of the important field of CVD processes which has never been completely reviewed previously. Contents: Part I. 1. Evolution of CVD Films. Introductory remarks. Short history of CVD thin films. II. Fundamentals. 2. Techniques of Preparing Thin Films. Electrolytic deposition techniques. Vacuum deposition techniques. Plasma deposition techniques. Liquid-phase deposition techniques. Solid-phase deposition techniques. Chemical vapour conversion of substrate. Chemical vapour deposition. Comparison between CVD and other thin film deposition techniques. 3. Chemical Processes Used in CVD. Introduction. Description of chemical reactions used in CVD. 4. Thermodynamics of CVD. Feasibility of a CVD process. Techniques for equilibrium calculations in CVD systems. Examples of thermodynamic studies of CVD systems. 5. Kinetics of CVD. Steps and control type of a CVD heterogeneous reaction. Influence of experimental parameters on thin film deposition rate. Continuous measurement of the deposition rate. Experimental methods for studying CVD kinetics. Role of homogeneous reactions in CVD. Mechanism of CVD processes. Kinetics and mechanism of dopant incorporation. Transport phenomena in CVD. Status of kinetic and mechanism investigations in CVD systems. 6. Measurement of Thin Film Thickness. Mechanical methods. Mechanical-optical methods. Optical methods. Electrical methods. Miscellaneous methods. 7. Nucleation and Growth of CVD Films. Stages in the nucleation and growth mechanism. Regimes of nucleation and growth. Nucleation theory. Dependence of nucleation on deposition parameters. Heterogeneous nucleation and CVD film structural forms. Homogeneous nucleation. Experimental techniques. Experimental results of CVD film nucleation. 8. Thin Film Structure. Techniques for studying thin film structure. Structural defects in CVD thin films. 9. Analysis of CVD Films. Analysis techniques of thin film bulk. Analysis techniques of thin film surfaces. Film composition measurement. Depth concentration profiling. 10. Properties of CVD Films. Mechanical properties. Thermal properties. Optical properties. Photoelectric properties. Electrical properties. Magnetic properties. Chemical properties. Part III. 11. Equipment and Substrates. Equipment for CVD. Safety in CVD. Substrates. 12. Preparation and Properties of Semiconducting Thin Films. Homoepitaxial semiconducting films. Heteroepitaxial semiconducting films. 13. Preparation and Properties of Amorphous Insulating Thin Films. Oxides. Nitrides and Oxynitrides. Polymeric thin films. 14. Preparation and Properties of Conductive Thin Films. Metals and metal alloys. Resistor materials. Transparent conducting films. Miscellaneous materials. 15. Preparation and Properties of Superconducting and Magnetic Thin Films. Superconducting materials. Magnetic materials. 16. Uses of CVD Thin Films. Applications in electronics and microelectronics. Applications in the field of microwaves and optoelectronics. Miscellaneous applications. Artificial heterostructures (Quantum wells, superlattices, monolayers, two-dimensional electron gases). Part V. 17. Present and Future Importance of CVD Films.