Optical spectroscopy and spectroscopic ellipsometry as a monitor for thin film growth by dc magnetron sputtering

Measurements of line intensity ratios have been used in astronomy to determine physical properties of plasmas such as density and temperature. Herein, this procedure was applied to monitor thin film growth during plasma-assisted deposition and useful information about the plasma was obtained. The aim of this study was to monitor plasma variations during deposition, using wide field optical spectroscopy, and to establish a relationship with thin film stoichiometry using spectroscopic ellipsometry. With this purpose, inhomogeneous SiOxNy thin films were grown by dc magnetron sputtering.