Possibilities of ellipsometry with the surface plasmon excitation in the investigation of thin films in comparison with separated ellipsometry and surface plasmon spectroscopy

This article is devoted to the comparison of possibilities of ellipsometry, surface plasmon spectroscopy and their combination in the investigation of thin films. The problem of separation of the thickness and refractive index of the film of interest is considered as well as the possibility to find the transverse optical anisotropy of such film. The special attention to the way for comparison of different methods is paid. It is proved the only such way can show which method gives more information about an investigated system and allows to inspect the surface treatment more exactly. Such comparison is made for different kinds of substrate in the case of standard ellipsometry, as well as for separated surface plasmon spectroscopy and ellipsometry with surface electromagnetic waves excitation.