Tungsten (W) and titanium (Ti) films are widely used in electrochemistry, microelectronics, energy conversion and nanotechnology. In integrated optics, the nanometric Ti films are used as a source for doping LiNbO₃ and LiTaO₃ substrate and optical waveguide fabrication by thermal diffusion. Because effective refractive indices of the waveguide modes are strongly dependent on the optical profiles in doped layer, precise control of Ti film thickness (h) is needed in the range h~10-50 nm. Ellipsometry can be successfully applied for nondestructive determination of the thickness of a dielectric and semi-transparent metal film when optical constants of the material are known. Regrettably, noticeable scattering was found for optical constants reported earlier in literature for W and Ti films and crystals. As it seems, this scattering appeared due to different film quality and surface state. The focus of the present work is centered on W, Ti and W-Ti film fabrication and evaluation of their optical parameters with spectroscopic ellipsometry. Tungsten and tungsten-titanium films were prepared by magnetron sputtering deposition in vacuum below 10-5 Torr. Titanium films were fabricated by thermal evaporation method in vacuum below 10-5 Torr. The substrate temperature was T=100 °C. For precise determination of optical parameters, thick metal films (h~100 nm by as determined from optical interferometry) were prepared on silica substrate. To increase the metal adhesion, the substrate was subjected to RCA chemical cleaning just before insertion into vacuum chamber. Structural parameters of metal films were studied with reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED). Surface micromorphology was controlled with atomic force microscopy (AFM). Spectral dependencies of refractive index n(λ) and extinction coefficient k(λ) were determined with the help of spectroscopic ellipsometry in the spectral range, λ~250-1030 nm. A relation between optical constants of pure metal W and Ti and mixed metal W-Ti films is discussed.

InSb is a promising material for optical devices, particularly for high-frequency and nonlinear-optical applications. InSb has a high electron mobility and offer excellent design flexibility as a result of its large conduction-band offset in multilayer structures. Consequently, InSb offers significant potential for devices such as quantum-well lasers, laser diodes, and heterojunction bipolar transistors. A knowledge of the dielectric function at various temperatures is required for optimizing the properties for specific device applications. In-situ control of growth is also becoming an important technique. Therefore, the dielectric function at growth temperatures is also needed. On the other hand, critical point (CP) energies can be better identified from low-temperature data, where the decreased electron-phonon interaction allows separation of CP structures that are nearly degenerate at room temperature.

Although the optical properties of InSb have been well studied, there are only a few reports of their temperature dependence in the 1.2 to 5.6 eV spectral ranges [1]. Here, we report results of an investigation of the temperature dependence of the dielectric response of InSb from 22 K to 700 K and from 0.74 to 6.57 eV.

Spectroscopic ellipsometric (SE) data were obtained on a bulk semi-insulating InSb (100) substrate. The cryostat consisted of a stainless-steel chamber with high-quality stress-free fused-quartz windows. To avoid condensation at low temperatures, the sample was maintained in ultrahigh vacuum during measurement. SE data were obtained at an angle of incidence of 70.41° using a conventional rotating-compensator system with a diode-array detector. The influence of the oxide overlayer was removed mathematically by a multilayer calculation. In the E₂ energy region only four structures are clearly resolved at 300 K. However, at 22 K the E₂' and E₂ structures are seen to consist of five CPs. We identified the origin of these structures with band-structure calculations using the LASTO method. Separation of the E₀', E₀'+Δ₀', E₂, E₂+Δ₂, E₂', E₁' and E₁'+Δ₁' CPs was clearly found in the region of the E₂ peak. Two saddle-point transitions, Δ₅^cu-Δ₅^vu and Δ₅^cl-Δ₅^vu, are clearly seen. We also determined the temperature dependences of the newly observed transitions near 5.9 eV. These results will be useful in a number of contexts, including the design of optoelectronic devices based on InSb, as data for improved band structure calculations, and for in-situ monitoring.

[1] S. Logothetidis, L. Vina and M. Cardona, Phys. Rev. B 31, 947 (1985).

Electrochemical oxidation of silicon (n-type) at room temperature in a mixture of ethylene glycol, water and potassium nitrate has been performed by applying constant current densities to prepare thin SiO2 layers. In-situ Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) and Spectroscopic Ellipsometry (SE) are employed during the SiO₂ film growth. Using EIS and SE techniques in-situ one is able to monitor the capacitive changes and also the film thickness change of the oxide. The thickness of the oxides is also measured ex-situ before and after growth using SE. Equivalent circuit models corresponding to the electrolyte-oxide-silicon interfaces and optical models are fit to EIS and SE data respectively, to gain insight into the quality of the anodically grown SiO₂.

Germanium films were deposited on both glass and silicon substrates using high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS). Throughout the deposition process, the optical constants and thicknesses were measured and recorded via in-situ spectroscopic ellipsometry. Preliminary analysis of the films’ optical behavior has indicated that the refractive index is highly sensitive to changes in thickness. As film thickness increases from 100 to 500 Å, the refractive index displays the tendency to slowly decrease due to void porosity, lack of crystalline order and surface roughness. The preservation of the refractive index seen in the HiPIMS deposited Ge films is a direct result of their high density and low void fraction, following the relationship between density and refractive index as given by the Gladstone-Dale approximation.