Infrared Ellipsometry

Porter M D, Bright T B, Allara D L and Chidsey C E D 1987 Spontaneously organized molecular assemblies. 4. Structural characterization of normal-alkyl thiol monolayers on gold by optical ellipsometry, infrared-spectroscopy, and electrochemistry J. Am. Chem. Soc. 109 3559-68... 

Monolayers of alkanetliiols adsorbed on gold, prepared by immersing tire substrate into solution, have been characterized by a large number of different surface analytical teclmiques. The lateral order in such layers has been investigated using electron [1431, helium [144, 1451 and x-ray [146, 1471 diffraction, as well as witli scanning probe microscopies [122, 1481. Infonnation about tire orientation of tire alkyl chains has been obtained by ellipsometry [149], infrared (IR) spectroscopy [150, 151] and NEXAFS [152]. 

Manual null ellipsometry is accurate but infrequently done, due to the length of time needed to acquire sufficient data for any meaningffil materials analysis. Automated null ellipsometers are used, for example, in the infrared, but are still slow. Numerous versions of last automated ellipsometers have been built. Examples... 

Infrared ellipsometry is typically performed in the mid-infrared range of 400 to 5000 cm , but also in the near- and far-infrared. The resonances of molecular vibrations or phonons in the solid state generate typical features in the tanT and A spectra in the form of relative minima or maxima and dispersion-like structures. For the isotropic bulk calculation of optical constants - refractive index n and extinction coefficient k - is straightforward. For all other applications (thin films and anisotropic materials) iteration procedures are used. In ellipsometry only angles are measured. The results are also absolute values, obtained without the use of a standard. 

Double and buried layers are readily detected by infrared ellipsometry if the film material is characterized by reststrahlen bands. The response is observed at the position... 

Electrochemical techniques have been developed into very powerful tools for research and technology. However, decades ago, researchers started to understand that even more insight could be obtained if electrochemical techniques were combined with additional spectroscopic tools. Among these it is sufficient to mention infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, luminescence techniques, electroreflection or ellipsometry. 

Infrared (IR) spectroscopy and elUpsometry are used to measure the thickness of thin films with angstrom resolution. Ellipsometry has proven to be very useful in studies of dy-... 

The monotonic increase of immobilized material vith the number of deposition cycles in the LbL technique is vhat allo vs control over film thickness on the nanometric scale. Eilm growth in LbL has been very well characterized by several complementary experimental techniques such as UV-visible spectroscopy [66, 67], quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) [68-70], X-ray [63] and neutron reflectometry [3], Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ETIR) [71], ellipsometry [68-70], cyclic voltammetry (CV) [67, 72], electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) [73], -potential [74] and so on. The complement of these techniques can be appreciated, for example, in the integrated charge in cyclic voltammetry experiments or the redox capacitance in EIS for redox PEMs The charge or redox capacitance is not necessarily that expected for the complete oxidation/reduction of all the redox-active groups that can be estimated by other techniques because of the experimental timescale and charge-transport limitations. 

A number of methods are available for the characterization and examination of SAMs as well as for the observation of the reactions with the immobilized biomolecules. Only some of these methods are mentioned briefly here. These include surface plasmon resonance (SPR) [46], quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) [47,48], ellipsometry [12,49], contact angle measurement [50], infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) [51,52], Raman spectroscopy [53], scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) [54], atomic force microscopy (AFM) [55,56], sum frequency spectroscopy. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) [57, 58], surface acoustic wave and acoustic plate mode devices, confocal imaging and optical microscopy, low-angle X-ray reflectometry, electrochemical methods [59] and Raster electron microscopy [60]. 

Infrared Ellipsometry on Semiconductor Layer Structures Phonons, Plasmons, and Polaritons... 

Several factors have contributed to this goal in the recent past development of electrochemical techniques for the study of complex reactions at solid electrodes, use of physical methods such as ESCA, Auger, LEED, etc. for the study of surfaces in the ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) environment and in situ techniques under the same conditions as the electrode reaction. Ellipsometry, electroreflectance, Mossbauer, enhanced Raman, infrared, electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopies and measurement of surface resistance and local changes of pH at surfaces were incorporated to the study of electrode kinetics. 

Morrissey 53) used transmission infrared spectroscopy to study protein adsorption onto silica particles in a heavy water (DzO) buffer. By observing the shift in the amide I absorption band, he could deduce the fraction of protein carbonyl groups involved in bonding to the silica surface. He found that bovine IgG had a bound fraction of 0.20 at low bulk solution concentrations, but only about 0.02 at high solution concentrations. However, neither prothrombin nor bovine serum albumin exhibited a change in bound fraction with concentration. Parallel experiments with flat silica plates using ellipsometry showed that the IgG-adsorbed layers had an optical thickness of 140 A and a surface concentration of 1.7 mg/m2 at low bulk solution concentration — in concentrated solutions the surface amount was 3.4 mg/m2 with a thickness of 320 A (Fig. 17). 

In 1985 Allara and Nuzzo [354, 355] published the results of an extensive investigation in which adsorption took place on to an aluminium oxide layer formed on a film of aluminium deposited in vacuo on to a silicon wafer. Various carboxylic acids were dissolved in high purity hexadecane and allowed to adsorb from this solution on to the prepared aluminium oxide surface. The monolayers so formed were examined by ellipsometry and infrared spectroscopy. Contact angle measurements were made on the monolayer surfaces and radioactive labelled (tritiated) compounds were employed to study the interchange of adsorbed molecules with those in solution. Various other techniques of less immediate relevance to our present interests were also employed and reference to these two papers should be made for further particulars. Aluminium... 

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