Seminar DPE: Assoc. Prof. Juan Antonio Zapien

We cordially invite you to the lecture of Juan Antonio Zapien from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. SAR

The many ways to perform a Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) optical simulation of spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) data

Juan Antonio Zapien*, May Thawda Phoo, Yishu Foo, Rashedul Md Huqe
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. SAR
* JAZ: apjazs@cityu.edu.hk

I start this presentation by providing an overview of the FDTD implementation to model SE data developed by our group. Special attention will be given to the strategies needed to achieve sub-monolayer accuracy with computational speeds that allow optical parameter optimization on desktop servers [1]. Next, I will illustrate the use of this strategy quantitative FDTD-SE for the study of Bloch surface waves (BSW) in sensing applications. In the final part, I will present our proposed strategy to develop novel IS-IO strategies for energy storage materials and devices. Extending the capabilities of SE for routine characterization of electrochemical devices used in energy conversion and storage is a challenging task. Top-performing devices for electrochemical energy storage are notoriously difficult to characterize optically because the low light penetration range of the materials used for batteries and supercapacitors limits SE’s phase sensitivity advantage. However, the prospect of overcoming these difficulties remains highly attractive because of the low-cost and relatively simple implementation of optical strategies compared to well-established electron-based IS-IO strategies. A roadmap to develop SE-based IS-IO capabilities is proposed based on the well-established and demanding sub-nm characterization of optical critical dimension (OCD) by the semiconductor industry.

Acknowledgment: This work was supported by the Research Grants Council, University Grants Committee, of Hong Kong SAR, PRC (Projects Nos. CityU 11210218 and 11215121).

[1] Foo Y., Zapien J.A.*, Convergence and precision characteristics of finite difference time domain method for the analysis of spectroscopic ellipsometry data at oblique incidence, Applied Surface Science 421 (2017) 878. doi:10.1016/j.apsusc.2016.12.165.