Fourier Analysis Near-Field Polarimetry for Measurement of Local Optical Properties of Thin Films

Published

July 1, 2003

Author(s)

Lori S. Goldner, Michael J. Fasolka, S Nougier, H P. Nguyen, Garnett W. Bryant, Jeeseong Hwang, K D. Weston, Kathryn L. Beers, A Urbas, Edwin L. Thomas

Abstract

We present measurements of the local dichroism and birefringence of thin film specimens us ing techniques that combine near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM) and a novel polarization modulation (PM) polarimetry utilizing Fourier analysis of the detected intensity signal. Generally, quantitative near-field polarimetry is hampered by the optical anisotropy of NSOM probes. For exampl'dely used Al-coated pulled-fiber aperture probes typically exhibit a dichroism near 10%. Our analysis of aperture dichroism demonstrates that the usual techniques for nulling a PM polanimeter result in a non-zero redisual probe birefringence in the presence of a dichroic tip. However, we show that both dichroism and birefrin-ence of the sample can be determined if both the tip dichroism and birefringenceare explicitly measured and accounted for in the data. In addition, in thin films (

Citation

Applied Optics

Volume

42

Issue

19

Pub Type

Journals

Keywords

birefringence, diblock copolymers dichroism, near-field scanning optical microscopy, NSOM, polarimetry, retardance, SNOM, sphenrulities, thin films

Citation

Goldner, L. , Fasolka, M. , Nougier, S. , Nguyen, H. , Bryant, G. , Hwang, J. , Weston, K. , Beers, K. , Urbas, A. and Thomas, E. (2003), Fourier Analysis Near-Field Polarimetry for Measurement of Local Optical Properties of Thin Films, Applied Optics (Accessed October 7, 2025)