Park Systems Ellipsometer for Thin Film Analysis

Park Ellipsometers offers a variety of unique features that allow the visualization of your surface in real time. You will see in real time the structure of your sample on a microscopic scale. You can measure parameters like thickness, refractive index and absorption. You can receive maps of selected areas. You can combine the instrument with other technologies like AFM, QCM-D, reflectometry, Raman spectroscopy and many more to receive even more information from your samples. The Accurion EP4 is a modular instrument enabling configuration for your specific measurement tasks. The Accurion EP4, equipped with the standard laser can also be operated as a Brewster angle microscope, typically in LB applications.

Why use ellipsometry?

Ellipsometry analyzes the change of polarization of light reflected from a sample and yields information about thin film layers that are often even thinner than the wavelength of the probing light itself.

The change of amplitude and phase of the p and s components of the light after the reflection from the sample are depending on film properties like thickness, refractive index and absorption. Ellipsometry measures the change of the amplitudes and phases of s- and polarized light by rotating polarization components. The measured values are psi and delta. These values need to be put into a computer based model of the sample materials to calculate the thickness, refractive index, absorption and a variety of sample properties, including morphology, crystal quality, chemical composition or electrical conductivity. Ellipsometry is an established technology to measure multilayer film thickness, refractive index and absorption.

Why use imaging ellipsometry?

Imaging ellipsometry combines microscopy and auto nulling ellipsometry. The microscopy aspect allows the direct visualization of your sample with an ellipsometric contrast image with a lateral resolution as small as 1 micron as well as the measurement of the ellipsometric parameters Delta and Psi with the highest lateral ellipsometric resolution also down to 1 micron.

This enables resolving sample areas 1,000 times smaller than most micro spot equipped non-imaging spectroscopic ellipsometers. Imaging ellipsometry permits characterization of local sample parameter variation on a microscopic scale. This technology can measure the same ex-situ applications as non-imaging ellipsometers and many more. It is dedicated to applications where you have lateral structures in the range of 50 mm down to 1 micron. This includes patterned samples or where you have tiny samples like tips of a cantilever.

Accurion EP4 Unique Features

THE HIGHEST LATERAL ELLIPSOMETRIC RESOLUTION

The combination of microscopy and auto nulling ellipsometry allows a lateral ellipsometric resolution as small as 1 micron.

MAGING ELLIPSOMETRY IN THE WAVELENGTH RANGE OF 190 TO 2750 NM

(New Feature)

With the use of a grating monochromator now continuous spectroscopic measurements are possible.

TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATION PLATFORM

(New Feature)

Implementation of complementary technologies e.g. Raman, AFM etc. provide even more information on your sample

VARIOUS UNIQUE FEATURES

(New Feature)

A variety of further new features and accessories enabling ellipsometry for new applications.

Accurion EP4 Selected Applications

GRAPHENE, 2D-MATERIALS

Imaging ellipsometry allows the direct visualization of your 2D-material flakes on various substrates/materials. It is possible to measure thickness and optical properties of different 2D-material layers in the micrometer scale.

PHOTONICS, DISPLAYS, MEMS

Our technique enables spectroscopic measurements on very small regions of only a few micron, using the patented ROI (region of interest ) concept. Multiple consults can be derived from a single measurement: film thickness, refractive index, composition and contaminations.

AIR/WATER OR LIQUID/LIQUID INTERFACE

The air/water interface is of elementary interest in biophysics as well as in industrial applications. Brewster angle/LIQUID microscopy (BAM) is a powerful technique that allows for real-time visualization of Langmuir-Blodgett monolayers.

BIO INTERFACES

Biological applications demand high sensitivity observation techniques. Additionally, the environment needs to be controllable in order to avoid influencing or damaging the behavior of observed materials. Imaging Ellipsometry (IE) offers highest sensitivity for thickness or surface coverage of mono- as well as sub-monolayers with microscopic resolution.