Examination of thin SiO2 films on Si using spectroscopic polarization modulation ellipsometry

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Abstract
A series of SiO2 films with thicknesses varying from 3 to 325 nm have been grown on silicon using standard dry oxygen growth techniques and examined using the two‐channel polarization modulation ellipsometer, which has increased sensitivity for very thin insulating films on silicon. Using a biased estimator fitting technique, the ellipsometric data are fit to either an air‐SiO2‐Si model or an air‐SiO2‐interface‐Si model, where the optical functions of the SiO2 layer are approximated using an isotropic one‐term Sellmeier approximation. The results from the one‐term Sellmeier approximation show that the refractive index of the SiO2 layer increases with decreasing film thickness, while the interfacial layer thickness decreases with decreasing film thickness.

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