A Brief History of Ellipsometry
Abstract
In this paper the history of ellipsometry is described with emphasis on the 19th century. The understanding of polarized light and its interaction with matter is tightly connected to the development of the electromagnetic theory and thus optics. While some effects of polarized light were already known to the Vikings, a reasonable starting is the work of É. Malus, who first defined light polarization. First instruments were likely built in the first half of the 19th century. However, ellipsometry became an optical characterization technique only after the optical response was formulated within the Maxwell equations at the beginning of the 20th century.
- Publication:
-
Physica Status Solidi B Basic Research
- Pub Date:
- February 2019
- DOI:
- 10.1002/pssb.201800307
- Bibcode:
- 2019PSSBR.25600307R