General Formulae for the Optical Characterization of Single Layers with Spectroscopic Reflectometry

In this theoretical paper, general formulae for evaluating the optical parameters that characterize homogeneous and inhomogeneous single layers formed by non-absorbing or weakly absorbing materials are presented. It is shown that these formulae can be used to realize a complete analysis of these layers by a simple method using spectroscopic reflectometry. The layers investigated with this method must be sufficiently thick for there to be several extrema in the spectral dependence of the reflectance describing each of these layers.