Advances in Optical and Magnetooptical Scatterometry of Periodically Ordered Nanostructured Arrays

• Main Authors: Martin Veis, Roman Antos
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hindawi Limited 2013-01-01
• Series: Journal of Nanomaterials
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/621531

We review recent advances in optical and magnetooptical (MO) scatterometry applied to periodically ordered nanostructures such as periodically patterned lines, wires, dots, or holes. The techniques are based on spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE), either in the basic or generalized modes, Mueller matrix polarimetry, and MO spectroscopy mainly based on MO Kerr effect measurements. We briefly present experimental setups, commonly used theoretical approaches, and experimental results obtained by SE and MO spectroscopic analyses of various samples. The reviewed analyses are mainly related to monitoring optical critical dimensions such as the widths, depths, and periods of the patterned elements, their real shapes, and their line edge or linewidth roughness. We also discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the optical spectroscopic techniques compared to direct monitoring techniques.