• Korean Journal of Optics and Photonics
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2024

Explicit expressions for the transmission pseudo-ellipsometric constants and transmittance of a semi-transparent glass substrate coated with thin films are presented to determine the optical constants of a very weakly absorbing thin film coated on a glass substrate. The intensity of the multiply reflected light inside the semi-transparent substrate is superposed incoherently and the light absorption by the substrate is properly treated, so that modeling analysis of thin films coated on a semi-transparent substrate can be performed with increased accuracy. The extinction coefficient derived from transmittance analysis is compared to that from ellipsometric analysis in the weakly absorbing region, and the difference between the two extinction coefficients is discussed in relation to the sensitivities of the transmittance and ellipsometric constants. This transmittance analysis, together with ellipsometric analysis, is applied to a glass substrate coated with a SiN thin film, and it is shown that the thickness and complex refractive index of the SiN thin film can be determined accurately, even though the extinction coefficient is very small.