The study was devoted to optical characterization of non-stoichiometric silicon nitride films prepared by reactive magnetron sputtering in argon-nitrogen atmosphere onto cold (unheated) substrates. It was found that these films exhibit the combination of three defects: optical inhomogeneity (refractive index profile across the films), uniaxial anisotropy with the optical axis perpendicular to the boundaries and random roughness of the upper boundaries. The influence of the uniaxial anisotropy was included into the corresponding formulae of the optical quantities using the matrix formalism and the approximation of the inhomogeneous layer by a multilayer system consisting of large number thin homogeneous layers. The random roughness was described using the scalar diffraction theory. The processing of the experimental data was performed using the multi-sample modification of the least-squares method, in which experimental data of several samples differing in thickness were processed simultaneously. The dielectric response of the silicon nitride films was modeled using the modification of the universal dispersion model, which takes into account absorption processes corresponding to valence-to-conduction band electron transitions, excitonic effects and Urbach tail. The spectroscopic reflectometric and ellipsometric measurements were supplemented by measuring the uniformity of the samples using imaging spectroscopic reflectometry.

The method of variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry usable for the complete optical characterization of inhomogeneous thin films exhibiting complicated thickness non-uniformity together with transition layers at their lower boundaries is presented in this paper. The inhomogeneity of these films is described by means of the multiple-beam interference model. The thickness non-uniformity is taken into account by averaging the elements of the Mueller matrix along the area of the light spot of the ellipsometer on the films. The local thicknesses are expressed using polynomials in the coordinates along the surfaces of the films. The efficiency of the method is illustrated by means of the optical characterization of a selected sample of the polymer-like thin film of SiO x C y H z prepared by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition onto the silicon single crystal substrate. The Campi–Coriasso dispersion model is used to determine the spectral dependencies of the optical constants at the upper and lower boundaries of this film. The profiles of these optical constants are determined too. The thickness non-uniformity is described using a model with local thicknesses given by the polynomial with at most quadratic terms. In this way it is possible to determine the geometry of the upper boundary. The thickness and spectral dependencies of the optical constants of the transition layer are determined as well. Imaging spectroscopic reflectometry is utilized for confirming the results concerning the thickness non-uniformity obtained using ellipsometry.

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The roughness of four samples of silicon single-crystal surfaces roughened by anodic oxidation is studied using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and angle-resolved scattering of light. The power spectral density functions (PSDFs) are determined on the basis of the measured values of the intensity of the scattered light. This is done on the basis of three models, which establish relation between the intensity of the light scattered in the given direction and the values of the PSDF at a certain spatial frequency. Two of the models are based on the scalar diffraction theory (SDT), while the third is based on the Rayleigh–Rice perturbation theory. The formulae corresponding to the SDT are derived in the theoretical part of the paper. The condition for the Fraunhofer diffraction is not satisfied if the values of the wavelength, distance to the detector and the dimensions of the illuminated spot on the sample used in the experiment are considered. However, it is shown that if the calculation of the intensity of the scattered light is performed in a certain way, then the validity of the expansion only up to the linear terms in the phase terms, i.e. in the same way as in the Fraunhofer diffraction, is not limited by the dimensions of the light spot but by the autocorrelation length of the randomly rough surface. The results obtained by the optical methods are compared with those obtained by AFM. It is shown that there is a good agreement between these results.

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