KSEMAW: an open source software for the analysis of spectrophotometric, ellipsometric and photothermal deflection spectroscopy measurements

Marco Montecchi; Alberto Mittiga; Claudia Malerba; Francesca Menchini

doi:10.12688/openreseurope.13842.2

KSEMAW: an open source software for the analysis of spectrophotometric, ellipsometric and photothermal deflection spectroscopy measurements

Open Res Eur. 2023 Jan 4:1:95. doi: 10.12688/openreseurope.13842.2. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Marco Montecchi¹, Alberto Mittiga¹, Claudia Malerba¹, Francesca Menchini^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Energy Technologies and Renewable Sources Department, ENEA Research Center Casaccia, Roma, 00123, Italy.
² Department of Information Engineering, Electronics and telecommunications, University of Roma, Roma, Italy.

Abstract

The optical behavior of devices based on thin films is determined by complex refractive index and thickness of each slab composing the stack; these important parameters are usually evaluated from photometric and/or ellipsometric spectral measurements, given a model of the stack, by means of dedicated software. In the case of complex multilayer devices, generally a number of simpler specimens (like single-film on substrate) must be preliminarily characterized. This paper introduces the reader to a new open source software for thin film characterization finally released after about 30 years of development. The software has already been used in various fields of physics, such as thin film optical filters, architectural glazing, detectors for high energy physics, solar energy, and, last but not least, photovoltaic devices. Code source files, MS Windows executable, user manual as well as a sample of working directories populated with assorted files can be freely downloaded from the kSEMAW GitHub repository.

Keywords: complex refractive index; ellipsometric measurements; film thickness; open source software; optical characterization; spectrophotometric measurements; thin film.

Grants and funding

This research was financially supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the grant agreement Nos 823802 (Solar Facilities for the European Research Area - Third Phase [SFERA-III]) and 952982 (Disruptive Kesterites-Based Thin Film Technologies Customised for Challenging Architectural and Active Urban Furniture Applications [Custom-Art], and the Italian Ministry of Economic Development in the framework of the Operating Agreement with ENEA for the Research on the Electric System.