FOURIER-TRANSFORM INFRARED ELLIPSOMETRY OF THIN POLYMER-FILMS

Reflection spectra containing phase as well as intensity information were collected on a FT-IR spectrometer, using two linear polarizers. The sample consisted of a poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc) film on a copper substrate. By the use of well-known principles of ellipsometry, the differential phase retardation ( DELTA ) and differential amplitude ( psi ) were calculated from these measurements. Given an independent measurement such as the frequency of the peak maxima of the carbonyl band of the PVAc, the thickness and optical constants of the film were calculated from the ellipsometric measurements.