An Angular Spectrum Approach to Inverse Synthesis for the Characterization of Optical and Geometrical Properties of Semiconductor Thin Films

TL;DR

This paper introduces a flexible inverse synthesis method using angular spectrum wave propagation to accurately characterize optical and geometrical properties of semiconductor thin films, overcoming limitations of traditional rigid model assumptions.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel inverse synthesis approach that does not rely on rigid models, enabling precise characterization of complex and unconventional thin film samples.

Findings

Capable of evaluating geometrical properties of thin films.

Reduces variance in inverse synthesis optimization routines.

Improves measurement precision for complex samples.

Abstract

To design semiconductor-based optical devices, the optical properties of the used semiconductor materials must be precisely measured over a large band. Transmission spectroscopy stands out as an inexpensive and widely available method for this measurement but requires model assumptions and reconstruction algorithms to convert the measured transmittance spectra into optical properties of the thin films. Amongst the different reconstruction techniques, inverse synthesis methods generally provide high precision but rely on rigid analytical models of a thin film system. In this paper, we demonstrate a novel flexible inverse synthesis method that uses angular spectrum wave propagation and does not rely on rigid model assumptions. Amongst other evaluated parameters, our algorithm is capable of evaluating the geometrical properties of thin film surfaces, which reduces the variance caused by inverse synthesis optimization routines and significantly improves measurement precision. The proposed method could potentially allow for the characterization of "uncommon" thin film samples that do not fit the current model assumptions, as well as the characterization of samples with higher complexity, e.g., multi-layer systems.