Monitoring subwavelength grating structures for vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser applications by spectroscopic ellipsometry

摘要： GaAs based vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) have one of the fastest growing markets due to their numerous applications in imaging technology, optical sensors, and interconnects. Stable, single-mode operation of these laser diodes is often achieved by forming subwavelength structures on the surface of the GaAs semiconductor. Quick and preferably noncontact inspection of the formed nanostructures is desired during the fabrication process. Nanostructure characterization by spectral ellipsometry-based metrologies has become an indispensable tool in the semiconductor industry. An advanced method of ellipsometry is the application of Mueller-matrix ellipsometry, which enables the characterization of structure details difficult to measure or not reachable by using standard ellipsometry measurements. In this paper, the authors present the results of nanostructure characterization by model-based dimension metrology using spectral ellipsometry and Mueller-matrix spectral ellipsometry of substrates during the process of VCSEL fabrication.