Experimental Errors in Mueller Matrix Elements of Isotropic Samples

Undergraduate #85
Discipline: Physics
Subcategory: Materials Science

Jaime Moya - New Mexico State University
Co-Author(s): Farzin Abadizaman and Stefan Zollner, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM

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Ellipsometry has been used extensively to study the electronic properties of materials. Using a polarizer-sample-rotating analyzer (PSrA) ellipsometry configuration, polarized incident and reflected beams are described by Jones vectors. The effect the sample has on the incident polarization state is given by the Jones matrix. In general, this type of ellipsometry only works for non-depolarizing samples. To study depolarizing samples, generalized Mueller matrix ellipsometry (MME) is used. In MME, the Stokes vectors represent the polarization state of the incident and reflected beams, and the Mueller matrix describes the effect the sample has on the beam. The configuration used in this study is given by: polarizer-compensator-sample-rotating analyzer (PCSrA), in which 11 of the 16 MM elements can be measured. In the special case that the sample is non-depolarizing, the MM has a simple pattern and can be transformed into the Jones matrix. Four samples were measured from 1 to 6 eV using MME: LSAT ((LaAlO3)0.3(Sr2TaAlO6)0.7), bulk nickel (Ni), nickel vanadium (Ni:V), and single crystalline (100) silicon (Si), representing insulating, metallic, and semi-conducting samples. The measured MM elements are consistent with the MM for isotropic, non-depolarizing samples. Furthermore, to understand the experimental error in future experiments, straight-through MME measurements, with no sample were taken.

Funder Acknowledgement(s): New Alliance for Minority Participation, National Science Foundation (DMR-1505172)

Faculty Advisor: Stefan Zollner, zollner@nmsu.edu

Role: I took all of the data, plotted the results, and calculated the uncertainty in the measurements.