Simple and low-cost rotating analyzer ellipsometer (RAE) for wavelength dependent optical constant characterization of novel materials

Simple and low-cost homemade Rotating Analyzer Ellipsometer (RAE) configuration has been developed. Ellipsometer measures the changes of the reflected light polarization of the sample, yielding to the ratio of amplitude (Ψ) and phase difference (Δ) between p- and spolarization. Based on the Ψ and Δ values, the dielectric constant of the sample can be extracted. However, the available manufacturer-made ellipsometer is quite expensive and is not a good choice for the student to learn the optical concept since the complexity of its structure could hide the simple optical concept during the measurement. In this work, we have built RAE that constituted of relatively simple components and low-cost as well as simple configuration. Here, we also show the principle of measurement and the ellipsometry data analysis using the optical model related to the system under study Drude-Lorentz model. The calibration of our SE has been done by measuring standard materials in the energy range of 1.5 to 3.3 eV and it was compared to the reference measurement using standard ellipsometer. The result is surprisingly accurate within the error of 5. This research can be used for studying the several important optical concepts as well as for investigating nanostructured materials. © 2020 Trans Tech Publications Ltd, Switzerland.