Patent ID: 9404872
Filing Date: 2016-08-02
CPC Classification: G01N

Claim Text:
1. An apparatus suitable for multiple mode spectroscopic ellipsometry, comprising: an illumination source configured to illuminate a surface of a sample disposed on a sample stage; a detector configured to detect at least a portion of light reflected from the surface of the sample; a selectably configurable optical system including an illumination arm and a collection arm, the illumination source and the detector being optically coupled by the optical system, the optical system further comprising: a control system communicatively coupled to the rotatable polarizing element and the rotatable-translatable compensator element, wherein the control system is configured to selectably configure the optical system in at least one of a rotating compensator (RCSE) mode, a rotating polarizer (RPSE) mode, and a rotating polarizer and compensator (RPRC) mode by controlling an operation state of at least one of the rotatable polarizing element and the rotatable-translatable compensator element.