Abstract

Light scattering from rough surfaces is of interest in many fields. In the semiconductor industry specifically, the ability to detect sub-tenth-micron contamination particles on rough surfaces such as polysilicon and metals, is becoming increasingly important. Theoretical understanding of the scattering properties of these surfaces offers insight into the design of optically based methods. The coupled-dipole method has previously been shown to be a viable calculational technique for computing light scattering from particles on surfaces. By modeling a rough surface as a distribution of dipoles, light scattering from rough surfaces may also be computed. Light scattering from polysilicon surfaces, characterized by atomic force microscopy, have been calculated and compared to experimental data.

© 1991 Optical Society of America