Results in Physics 54 (2023) 107146

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Results in Physics
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/rinp

An improved method for measuring epi-wafer thickness based on the

infrared interference principle: Addressing interference quality and
multiple interferences in double-layer structures
Jiaxing Sun a, Zhisong Li a, *, Haojie Zhang a, Jinlong Song b, Tianbao Zhai a
a
College of Machine, Shanghai Dianji University, Shanghai 201306, PR China
b
FabXLab (Ningbo) Semiconductor Equipment Co.,Ltd, Shanghai 201114, PR China

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: The precise measurement of the thickness of substrate and epitaxial layers in epi-wafers is essential in the
Bilayer film thickness measurement semiconductor chip fabrication process. This study presents a new method for measuring the thickness of epi-
Infrared interferometry wafers using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) technology, which allows for precise, simultaneous, and fast
Variational mode decomposition
measurement of both substrate and epitaxial layers. To address the low accuracy of traditional FTIR techniques, a
Lomb-Scargle periodogram
One-dimensional signal processing
novel VMD-LSP algorithm is introduced, capable of precisely extracting frequency components from the original
spectral signal to calculate the precise thickness of the substrate and epitaxial layers. This study also introduces
an adaptive spectral excision algorithm and a high-precision thickness extraction algorithm to handle variations
in the infrared light absorption of different epi-wafer materials, leading to weakened interference signals, and the
challenges that stem from the unique double-layer structure of the wafer. These algorithms efficiently reduce the
impact of poor spectral quality and multiple interferences on measurement results, resulting in improved mea­
surement accuracy and stability. During the experimental phase, we compared our results obtained by ellips­
ometry as truth to evaluate the accuracy and stability of our proposed method. The results show an 85%
reduction in measurement error and a 65% improvement in stability compared to traditional methods. As a
result, our method meets the need for fast and efficient epi-wafer thickness measurement in semiconductor chip
manufacturing, providing a feasible and effective solution to the challenge of epi-wafer thickness measurement.

Introduction
Chips are key components in electronic devices and play a crucial
role in various fields. In the chip manufacturing process, over 95 % of
integrated circuits and semiconductor devices are fabricated on epi-
wafers[1,2]. Epi-Wafers preparation includes substrate preparation and
epitaxial processes. Epitaxy processes are used to grow high-resistance
epitaxial layers on low-resistance substrates, overcoming the break­
down and saturation voltage drop problems of conventional silicon
semiconductor devices[3–5]. Appropriate substrate and epitaxial
thickness not only provide a stable foundation for the precise positioning
and interconnection of the chip’s functional components but also ensure
the precise positioning and arrangement of the chip’s internal elements,
thereby achieving the expected circuit functionality[6–8]. Conse­
quently, the thickness of the substrate and epitaxial layers is an impor­
tant parameter in the epi-wafer quality inspection process[9,10].
Methods such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM) use thin elec­
tron beams to scan samples, producing clear images of sectional
morphology through the interaction between electron beams and sam­
ples[11]. However, such methods lack online measurement capabilities
and are not suitable for industrial production due to possible surface
damage and extended measurement times[12]. In contrast, optical
measurement methods effectively address these issues. Currently, the
primary optical measurement methods include ellipsometry and
Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Spectroscopic Ellips­
ometry (SE) is a polarized light based measurement technique that is
widely used to measure surface structures and dimensional or optical
parameters of surface layers[13]. In this method, ellipsometer parame­
ters are obtained by measuring the relative amplitude and phase
changes of polarized light reflected from the material surface[14,15].
However, for the measurement of optical films such as wafer samples,
calculations and fitting are required to obtain the optical parameters of

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: song272808216@163.com (Z. Li).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rinp.2023.107146
Received 28 August 2023; Received in revised form 28 October 2023; Accepted 30 October 2023
Available online 31 October 2023
2211-3797/© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-
nc-nd/4.0/).
J. Sun et al.
the film[16]. Therefore, spectroscopic ellipsometry is an indirect mea­
surement method, and the accuracy of its results depends not only on the
measurement accuracy of the ellipsometer itself, but also on the
appropriate selection of film structures, evaluation parameters and
dispersion models[17,18]. Furthermore, ellipsometry has limitations
when measuring thick films, ellipsometry methods display thickness
periodicity for films thicker than 10 μm[19]. Consequently, there are
multiple uncertain values for films with unknown range thicknesses,
which impedes rapid measurement[20]. Fourier Transform Infrared
interferometry is a technique that offers significant advantages for
measuring the thickness of optical films[21]. This method collects the
reflected spectrum formed by the interference of reflected light beams
from the upper and lower surfaces of a thin film, and then uses time-
domain-frequency-domain analysis methods such as Fourier transform
to calculate the maximum frequency of its reflected spectrum, thereby
obtaining the thickness information of the sample[22–24]. Although the
thickness measurement accuracy of Fourier transform infrared tech­
nology cannot match that of spectroscopic ellipsometry, this method
reduces the dependence on scattering models and simplifies the mea­
surement process, making it suitable for the optical properties of most
films[25,26]. In addition, this method is less affected by environmental
factors and is very suitable for situations where accurate and rapid
measurement is required in industrial production[27].
In our prior research endeavors, we crafted a methodology predi­
cated upon Fourier-transform infrared technology, aimed at measuring,
and calibrating the thickness of single-layer semiconductor thin films
[28]. A plethora of experiments were undertaken, validating the
method’s suitability for gauging single-layer semiconductor film thick­
ness. Nonetheless, for the more commonly employed epitaxial wafers
within the semiconductor industry, employing this technique for
thickness measurement unveils substantial constraints. (1) Epitaxial
wafers in the semiconductor domain typically consist of a substrate with
a thickness on the order of hundreds of micrometers and an epitaxial
layer, often several ten micrometers or even thinner. These two strata
may utilize identical semiconductor materials or distinct ones. However,
the optical characteristics of the substrate and the epitaxial layer differ
due to the use of different semiconductor materials or different doping
concentrations. In Fourier transform infrared interference thickness
measurement, this is manifested as a difference in the infrared absorp­
tion ability of the substrate and the epitaxial layer. Therefore, when the
semiconductor material has a strong absorption ability for infrared light,
this leads to weak reflected light and poor interference quality. More­
over, currently prevalent SLED and LED light sources in the market do
not exhibit uniform power distribution within their spectral range.
Therefore, within lower-power spectral bands, interference phenomena
may not occur at all. (2) Similarly, owing to the dual-layer architecture
inherent to epitaxial wafers, when employing the method proposed in
our prior research, incident light often undergoes multiple reflections
within the epitaxial wafer. This occurrence results in the presence of
multiple thickness peaks within the frequency domain of the reflectance
spectrum, posing a challenge for the final thickness extraction. (3) In our
prior study, we employed Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) as a
high-pass filter. However, for dual-layer and even multi-layer semi­
conductor thin-film structures like epitaxial wafers, EMD is no longer a
viable choice. EMD is entirely data-driven, and the number of modes (K)
generated during decomposition is solely dictated by the sample data,
rendering it uncontrollable. Consequently, for single-layer thin films, we
could assume that the signal component representing thickness was
superimposed within the highest frequency mode, Imf1, extracted during
decomposition. Conversely, for multi-layer thin films, simultaneous
extraction of multiple thickness components is requisite. Continued use
of the EMD decomposition method could lead to different thickness
signal components being superimposed within various modes, falling
short of the rapid industrial measurement requisites. (4) In our prior
research, an accelerated computation technique for the Lomb-Scargle
Periodogram (LSP), as introduced by Press and Rybicki[29], was
2
Results in Physics 54 (2023) 107146
employed. However, as precision requirements continue to escalate
within practical industrial production, a corresponding augmentation in
data sampling points becomes imperative. Existing Lomb-Scargle
Periodogram computation methods may fall short of meeting the effi­
ciency and rapid measurement demands prevalent in industrial pro­
duction. Addressing the aforementioned challenges encountered during
practical measurements necessitates further research and the develop­
ment of novel technologies and methodologies to facilitate the appli­
cation of infrared interference technology in measuring the thickness of
epitaxial semiconductor wafers.
This essay offers a swift, highly precise, and simultaneous method for
measuring the thickness of both the epi-wafer substrate and the epitaxial
layer, using the Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) interferometry prin­
ciples. Firstly, while dealing with the raw spectral signals, we introduce
an adaptive spectral excision algorithm that filters out lower-quality
spectral segments. This results in better accuracy of the subsequent
analysis. Secondly, during the transformation from time-domain to
frequency-domain, we propose the VLA (VMD-LSP Algorithm) method.
This algorithm accurately extracts primary frequency components from
the signal which represents thickness information. Thus, it enhances the
accuracy and reliability of the measurement results. Finally, while dis­
cussing thickness extraction, we propose a new high-precision thickness
extraction algorithm. This algorithm successfully eliminates noise
interference signals introduced by ambient light or mechanical vibra­
tions. It enables us to extract epi-wafer substrate and epitaxial layer
thickness with more accuracy, tackling the difficulties faced by tradi­
tional techniques in measuring multilayer film thickness.
Method
This chapter introduces the principles of measuring epi-wafer
thickness using FTIR technology and the innovative algorithms pro­
posed for this purpose. The VLA algorithm, the adaptive spectral exci­
sion algorithm, and the high-precision thickness extraction algorithm
are among the algorithms described in this chapter. They have been
designed to enhance the accuracy and reliability of measuring the
thickness of semiconductor epi-wafer substrates and epitaxial layers,
offering a solution for this purpose.
Principle of infrared interferometric thickness measurement
Fig. 1 demonstrates the interferometric thickness measurement
principle. Subfigure (a) presents an epi-wafer sample containing a thin
epitaxial layer and a comparatively thick substrate, resulting in three
reflective surfaces from these two dielectric layers. Therefore, the inci­
dent light (I0) passes through these three surfaces in sequence, under­
going reflection and resulting in interference within the interferometric
cavity. This ultimately leads to the creation of a reflection spectrum, as
illustrated in subfigure (b). The reflection spectrum (R) is mathemati­
cally represented as follows[27,30]:
⎧ ( )
√̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅
⎨ R(z, λ) = R1 + R2 + 2 R1 ⋅R2 ⋅cos 2πz
⎪
λ (1)
⎪
⎩
z = 2ndcosθ
where R1 represents the background profile of the light source. R2 de­
notes the intensity of diffusely reflected interference beams within op­
tical elements like optical fibers and probes. z signifies the optical path
difference between the two reflected beams; λ represents the wavelength
of the light source, n signifies the refractive index of the medium be­
tween the two interfering beams, and d corresponds to the thickness of
the medium[31].
FTIR technique deduces thin film thickness by analyzing the fre­
quency f of the reflected spectrum. In Equation (1), considering 1/λ as
time t, the optical path difference z becomes analogous to the frequency f
of a cosine signal. Consequently, through the computation of the
J. Sun et al. Results in Physics 54 (2023) 107146

Fig. 1. Infrared interferometric thickness measurement principle. (a)Interference model; (b)Reflectance spectrum; (c) Thickness calculation;

frequency f in the reflected spectrum, thin film thickness can be solved and the time-offset τ is defined by:
using Equation (1). (∑ )
In the case of epi-wafer samples with a bilayer structure, three peaks 1 sin(4πf λi )
τ= tan− 1 ∑ i (4)
emerge upon frequency calculation of their reflective spectra, as illus­ 4π f i cos(4π f λi )
trated in Fig. 1(c). These peaks correspond to the thickness of the
The major concern with the LSP algorithm lies in its computational
epitaxial layer, de, the thickness of the substrate, ds, and the sum of both
complexity. If the method of approximating trigonometric functions
thicknesses, dsum, respectively.
using Taylor series expansion is employed, the overall computational
complexity can easily reach O(N2). Leroy B[36], in pursuit of enhanced
An improved method of frequency calculation (VMD-LSP Algorithm) efficiency, leveraged the Fast Fourier Transform to refine the conven­
tional LSP algorithm. Without compromising solution accuracy, this
According to equation (1), it is easy to see that if the wavelength λ is modification reduced the computational complexity to O(log N),
viewed as a time increment t, then the reflection spectrum signal R is a resulting in nearly a fivefold reduction in computation time. The Fast
non-stationary signal whose oscillation frequency decreases with LSP algorithm begins by defining four coefficients:
increasing λ. Therefore, traditional Fourier transform methods cannot ∑ ∑
meet the accuracy requirements when extracting the maximum fre­ SR = (R(λi ) − R )sin(2π f λi ), CR = (R(λi ) − R )cos(2πf λi )
quency of the reflection spectrum signal R. To accurately extract the i
∑ i
∑ (5)
maximum frequency of the original spectral signal, this paper proposes a S2 = sin(4π f λi ), C2 = cos(4πf λi )
method called VMD-LSP Algorithm (VLA). The method uses Variational
i i

Mode Decomposition (VMD) to filter the original spectrum and calcu­
lates the Lomb-Scargle periodogram of the high-frequency component
after decomposition to achieve more accurate thickness calculation. By
using the VMD algorithm, we can effectively reduce the influence of the
infrared light source base signal, separate the cosine signal with thin film
thickness information from the interference signal generated by diffuse
reflection inside the optical fiber and optical probe, and improve the
calculation efficiency of LSP algorithm. Compared with Fast Fourier
Transform (FFT) method, VLA algorithm performs better in processing
non-stationary signals and can better eliminate noise interference,
making it more suitable for extracting the maximum frequency of the
original spectral signal.
Lomb-Scargle periodogram
The Lomb-Scargle periodogram (LSP), based on the discrete Fourier
transform, effectively identifies periodic components in non-uniform
time series[32,33]. Its central idea involves using sine functions to
non-linearly fit data sequences for estimating power spectral density.
For the reflected spectrum R(λi) obtained from the spectrometer, where i
= 1,2… N, the periodogram at frequency ’f’ is defined as[34,35]:
{ [∑ 2]
P(f ) =
1 i (R(λi ) − R )cos[2π f (λi − τ) ]
∑ During the decomposition process, the sum of the bandwidths is mini­
2σ 2 i cos [2π f (λi − τ) ]
2
The refined LSP formula is as follows:
{
1 [CR cos(2πf τ) + SR sin(2πf τ)]2
P(f ) = 2
2σ N + C2 cos(4πf τ) + S2 sin(4πf τ)
}
[SR cos(2π f τ) − CR sin(2πf τ)]2
+ (6)
N − C2 cos(4πf δ) − S2 sin(4πf τ)
Variational mode decomposition
In 2013, Dragomiretskiy et al. proposed a novel completely non-
recursive variational mode decomposition (VMD) method. This
method transforms mode decomposition into a variational solution
problem and uses the alternating direction multiplier method for opti­
mization[37]. In the process of optimization, an ensemble of modes with
band-limited characteristics is obtained[38]. Specifically, the core of
Variational Mode Decomposition (VMD) is to construct a variational
problem that exploits the principles of classical Wiener filtering, Hilbert
transforms, and down-mixing to decompose multi-component signals
into multiple Intrinsic Mode Functions (Imfs). Here, the Wiener filter is
used to denoise the signal, while the Hilbert transform acts as a spectral
domain multiplier, producing an analytical single-sideband signal[39].
mized by iteratively searching for limited bandwidth and the optimal

[∑ 2]
} center frequency to ensure that the component signals are equal to the
i (R(λi ) − R )sin[2π f (λi − τ) ]
+ ∑ 2 (2) original signal. This method determines the number of Imfs and allows
i sin [2π f (λi − τ) ]
the output of the Imfs to be controlled based on practical considerations.
Each Imf can be represented as follows:
where R and σ2 are the mean and variance of the measurements,
respectively, given by: uK = AK (t)cos[φK (t)] (7)

1∑ 1 ∑ where, AK(t) represents the instantaneous amplitude of uK, φK(t) denotes

R= R(λi ), σ2 = (R(λi ) − R )2 (3)
N i N− 1 i the instantaneous phase, and t denotes time.

3
J. Sun et al. Results in Physics 54 (2023) 107146

The constrained optimization problem for constructing each Imf is modulated by the power curve of the light source, which will un­
component in VMD can be formulated as[40]: doubtedly introduce errors into the final measurement results. After
⎧ { ⃦ [( ) ] ⃦2 } conducting extensive experiments, we found that after VMD decompo­
min ∑⃦ ⃦
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ ⃦∂t δ(t) + j ∗ uK (t) e− jwK t ⃦ sition of the reflected spectral signal, Imf1 reflects the power distribution
⎨ ⃦ ⃦
({uK }, {ωK } ) K πt curve of the light source, as shown in Fig. 2(b). Therefore, we discard
(8)
2
⎪
⎪
⎪
∑ Imf1 and only calculate Lomb-Scargle periodograms for Imf2 to eliminate
⎪ s.t. u (t) = f (t)
⎩ K
interference signals introduced by the light source. Secondly, it can
K
improve measurement efficiency. Based on the characteristics of VMD
where f(t) represents the original signal, [14]= {u1, u2, …, uk} represents algorithm, the mean of all Imf components is approximately 0 and their
the K finite bandwidth Imfs obtained from the decomposition, {ωK} = variance is approximately 1. If we calculate the Lomb-Scargle periodo­
{ω1, ω2, …, ωk} represents the center frequencies of the Imfs, δ(t) is the grams for Imf2, then R in equation (6) equals 0 and σ 2 equals 1. This can
Dirac function, * denotes the convolution operator, and j is the imagi­ further speed up calculation speed based on fast LSP algorithm and thus
nary unit. improve detection efficiency.
Next, by utilizing the Lagrange multiplier algorithm with quadratic Fig. 2 demonstrates the complete process of the VLA algorithm. The
penalty terms, the problem is transformed into an unconstrained vari­ reflectance spectrum is decomposed using VMD, and the Imf2 compo­
ational problem, leveraging the convergence of quadratic penalty under nent is subsequently subjected to the peak extraction method to deter­
finite weights and strict enforcement of Lagrange multiplier constraints. mine the maximum frequency f of the Lomb-Scargle periodogram. By
Therefore, the extended Lagrange expression L is given as[41]: merging Equation (1), the thickness of the thin film can be ascertained as
⃦2 ⃦ follows:
∑⃦ ⃦
[(
j
) ]
⃦ ⃦ ⃦
⃦
L({uK }, {ωK }, λ ) = α ⃦∂t δ(t) + ∗ uK (t) e − jwK t ⃦
f (t)
π t ⃦ +⃦⃦ d=
fpeak
(11)
K 2
⃦2 〈 〉 2n
∑ ⃦ ∑
⃦
− uK (t) ⃦ + λ(t), f (t) − uK (t) (9) where fpeak is the peak horizontal coordinate of the periodogram and n is
⃦
K 2 K the refractive index of the epi-wafer sample. Due to the bilayer thickness
structure of the wafer, three distinct thickness peaks arise, as illustrated
where, λ(t) represents the Lagrange multiplier operator and α is the
in Fig. 2(c).
balance parameter for the data fidelity constraint, which was set to 3000
in this study. Finally, the Alternate Direction Method of Multipliers
(ADMM) is employed to identify the saddle point of the above function New algorithm for epi-wafer interference problem
and solve the original minimization problem. The solution process in­
volves iterative updates of uK, ωK, and λ until the optimal solution of the By using the VLA method described in Section 2.2, we can accurately
above function is obtained. By following these steps, the VMD decom­ isolate the original spectral signal components that solely represent epi-
position is completed, resulting in K Imf components. wafer thickness information and accurately extract their maximum
The VMD method has shown a strong ability to solve mode mixing frequency, thereby obtaining a more accurate thickness value using
and misclassification problems due to non-iterative calculation and Equation (11). However, due to the non-uniformity of the epi-wafer
adaptive narrowband determination procedures. While VMD has material itself and variations in its microstructure, different epi-wafer
demonstrated better performance than traditional decomposition samples of different materials exhibit differences in their absorption
methods, its success significantly depends on preset parameters capacity in the infrared band. In addition, the reflectivity of the sub­
including mode number K and bandwidth control parameter α. Hence, strate and epitaxial layer varies. As a result, the raw spectral interference
selecting appropriate parameters to optimize the performance of VMD obtained for epi-wafers of certain specific materials (e.g. AL2O3) is often
has become a critical research issue. of poor quality. Furthermore, when infrared interferometry is used to
measure epi-wafer thickness, the unique two-layer structure of the epi-
Thickness calculation formula based on VLA wafer often leads to secondary or multiple interferences, resulting in
Using VMD decomposition technology in conjunction with Lomb- the presence of more than three peaks in the periodogram. These
Scargle periodograms has two significant advantages. (1) it can elimi­ problems pose significant challenges to the final calculation and thick­
nate interference caused by the light source. For LED and SLED light ness extraction.
sources widely used in the market, their power is not uniformly
distributed within the wavelength range. In most cases, the power at the Adaptive spectral excision algorithm
center wavelength of the light source is the highest, and the power on Fig. 3 illustrates a situation where the interfering signal is weak and
both sides gradually decreases, exhibiting a Gaussian distribution. the spectral quality is poor. In Fig. 3(b), In the low frequency region of
Therefore, as shown in Fig. 2(a), the actual collected reflection spectrum the original spectrum, the interference quality is extremely poor, the

Fig. 2. VLA algorithm processing (K = 2).

4
J. Sun et al.
Fig. 3. Adaptive spectral excision algorithm. (a) Original spectrum; (b) Low-quality spectra; (c) interference principle (physics); (d) High-quality spectra.
cosine trend is unclear and shows a distinct periodic trend, as shown by
the red box. In contrast, high quality spectra retain the cosine trend at
the boundary between periods, preserving the thickness information.
However, low-quality spectra affected by secondary interference expe­
rience destructive interference between the thickness information they
carry and the secondary interference signal at the inter-periodic
boundary, submerging the cosine signal in this region, as shown by
the principle model in Fig. 3(c). This phenomenon significantly in­
terferes with the original spectral signal, resulting in a smaller maximum
frequency extracted in the VLA algorithm and consequently an under­
estimated thickness measurement result.
To overcome this problem, we propose a novel adaptive spectral
excision algorithm. The core idea of this algorithm is to create a movable
window, as indicated by the purple box in Fig. 3(b). We use the spectral
quality within this window to determine the start and end points of the
excision. Specifically, we first create a moving window that divides the
original spectrum into several small intervals. Within each interval, we
calculate the mean peak value (Mp) and the mean valley value (Mv) to
assess the spectral quality. The window size is set to 5 % of the total
length of the original spectral signal. Within each small interval, Equa­
tion (12) is used to calculate the mean peak value (Pi) and mean valley
value (Vi) of the original spectral signal.
⎧ ∑min(|0.1×N×(changeScale+0.5)|,N− 1 )
⎪
⎪ i=max(|0.1×N×changeScale|,0 )
|Pi |
⎪
⎨ Mp =
⎪
Cp
∑min(|0.1×N×(changeScale+0.5)|,N− 1 ) (12)
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎩ i=max(|0.1×N×changeScale|,0 )
|V i |
Mv =
Cv
Where N represents the number of sample points in the original
spectral signal, and changeScale ∈ (1, 9) denotes the change in the in­
terval shift scale so that the entire original spectral signal can be tra­
versed. Cp and Cv represent the number of peaks and troughs,
respectively, in each small interval of the original spectral signal. The
max and min functions ensure that the start point of the small interval is
greater than 0 while ensuring that the endpoint does not exceed the total
length of the spectral signal.
As can be seen from the high frequency region of the original spec­
5
Results in Physics 54 (2023) 107146
trum in Fig. 3(a), when the spectral signal quality is high, the interfer­
ence phenomena are strong and the difference between the mean values
of the peaks and valleys of the corresponding cosine signal is significant.
Therefore, we set up a loop to continuously update the interval shift
scale (changeScale) and calculate the maximum mean difference (Md)
between peaks and valleys in each small interval, as well as the
maximum mean difference (MD) between peaks and valleys over all
intervals. The ratio between Md and MD is used as a criterion to evaluate
the spectral quality within the small intervals, as shown in Equation
(13).
(⃒ ⃒ )
max ⃒Mp − Mv ⃒, Md
⩾0.1 (13)
MD
In Equation (13), if the ratio between Md and MD is greater than or
equal to 0.1, we consider the quality of the spectrum in this interval to be
good. Therefore, the changeScale at this point represents the optimal
starting position for spectral truncation. The final truncation scale value
(Scale) can thus be expressed as:
Scale = 0.1 × max(min(changeScale, 3.5), 0 ) (14)
Since the original spectral signal is similar to a cosine function,
where the frequency decreases as the wavelength increases, it is neces­
sary to truncate symmetrically around the central wavelength when
performing spectral trimming. Consequently, the adaptive spectral
excision algorithm truncates an interval length proportional to the total
length of the spectral signal at both the left and right ends. In Equation
(14), the max and min functions limit the interval shift scale (change­
Scale) to the range (0, 3.5) to avoid truncation positions before the
leftmost side of the spectral signal and to ensure that the left and right
truncation areas do not exceed 35 % of the spectral signal. The final
truncation result is shown in Fig. 3(d).
High-precision thickness extraction algorithm
To overcome the problem of secondary and multiple interferences
caused by the peculiar two-layer structure of epi-wafers, we propose a
high-precision thickness extraction algorithm that allows accurate
thickness extraction even when multiple peaks are present. As shown in
J. Sun et al.
Fig. 4. High-precision thickness extraction algorithm. (a) Original periodogram; (b) Periodogram after noise reduction; (c) Calculate the sum of the energies; (d)
Extracted thickness results.
Fig. 4, this algorithm consists of three processes. The first process is the
pre-processing stage. After performing the time domain to frequency
domain conversion using the VLA algorithm, the higher peaks in the
periodogram represent the thickness information of the epi-wafer.
However, as shown in Fig. 4(a), there are also some weak lower peaks
in the periodogram, which often represent noise introduced by external
environmental factors during the measurement process. It is therefore
necessary to eliminate the frequency components that characterize this
noise information. Equation (15) can be used to describe this noise
reduction process. The effect of noise reduction is shown in Fig. 4(b).
⎧
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ 1 ∑Z− 1
⎪
⎨ Ti , Ti ⩾Z i=0 Ti
Ti = (15)
⎪ ∑
⎪ 0, Ti ⩽ 1 Z− 1 Ti
⎪
⎪ we can determine the combination with the highest energy value
⎪
⎩ Z i=0
Where Ti represents the vertical coordinate values of the periodogram
corresponding to the power spectral density for each thickness value. Z
represents the total number of coordinates in the periodogram, indi­
cating the maximum measurement range. The noise reduction process
effectively eliminates weak peaks introduced by noise and maximizes
the preservation of peaks representing thickness information only.
Next, the situation needs to be discussed. In Case 1, it is assumed that
only three peaks remain in the periodogram after noise removal, as
illustrated in Fig. 4(d). The horizontal coordinates of these three peaks
from left to right indicate the thicknesses of the epitaxial layer, the
substrate, and their sum. In Case 2, it is assumed that after noise removal
the number of peaks in the periodogram exceeds three, as seen in Fig. 4
(b). This indicates the presence of multiple interference phenomena and
strong interference signals, which necessitates a peak selection opera­
tion. The peak selection operation is defined by the constraint relation in
Equation (16):
⎧ ⃒⃒ ⃒ Emitting Diode) infrared light source from Shenzhen Golight Company.
⎨ ⃒Pi + Imax − Pj ⃒⃒ < threshold
⃒P + Pj − Imax ⃒ < threshold , i, j ∈ (0, Z − 1) (16)
⎩ ⃒⃒ i ⃒
Pj + Imax − Pi ⃒ < threshold
where Z represents the maximum measurement range and is equal to the
total number of data points in the periodogram. After removing the
6
Results in Physics 54 (2023) 107146
noise, the remaining peak sequences are expressed as Pi and Pj. The
highest peak corresponds to Imax and the measurement precision
threshold is represented by the term threshold. Several combinations of
peaks (Possibility[i, j]) can be identified following the peak selection
operation, which may potentially represent the final thickness. By
applying the constraint relation in Equation (17), the final thickness can
be determined.
( )
∑2
maxIdx = argmaxi Ti [Possibility[i, j] ] (17)
j=0
Where, Ti represents the vertical coordinate value of the power spectral
density of the i-th thickness index, denoting the amount of energy pre­
sent. By summing up the total energy in all possible peak combinations,
(maxIdx), which represents the final thickness result for the epi-wafer
sample.
Overall procedure
Based on the proposed adaptive spectral excision algorithm, VLA
algorithm, and high-precision thickness extraction algorithm, the
semiconductor epi-wafer thickness detection process is shown in Fig. 5.
Experiments and results
We conducted three experiments and implemented a comprehensive
experimental design to confirm the practicability of the above-
mentioned algorithms. In the subsequent trials, an infrared spectrom­
eter with a central wavelength of 1050 nm, a bandwidth of 100 nm, and a
resolution of 0.3 nm, supplied by Shanghai OceanHood Optoelectronics
Co., Ltd., was utilized. We used an SLED (Superluminescent Light
It had a central wavelength of 1050 nm, a power of 20mW (3 dB), and a
spectral width of 90 nm. In our study, we used eight sets of epi-wafers
with sapphire (AL2O3) substrates and GaN epitaxial layers provided
by Shanghai Fabxlab Semiconductor Co., Ltd. together. We enlisted the
Sinoma Institute of Materials Research to measure the thickness of these
8 sets of epi-wafer samples using a high-precision wide range
J. Sun et al. Results in Physics 54 (2023) 107146

Fig. 5. Scheme flowchart.

ellipsometer. According to the measurement results, the substrate follows: 31.06 μm, 27.13 μm, 38.51 μm, 79.49 μm, 40.16 μm, 34.92 μm,
thicknesses of the eight epi-wafer samples were as follows: 136.14 μm, 54.12 μm and 58.11 μm. As such, these measurements are used as ref­
222.39 μm, 278.05 μm, 311.28 μm, 342.73 μm, 477.38 μm, 531.69 μm, erences for the actual thickness of these epi-wafer samples.
and 620.50 μm. The epitaxial layer thicknesses of wafer samples as We conducted three experiments to verify the practicality of the

Fig. 6. Results of adaptive spectral excision experiment for 8 samples (in each subplot, the horizontal coordinate is the thickness of the sample and the vertical
coordinate is the power spectral density calculated from the periodogram; the left panel shows the results of the periodogram without the adaptive excision algorithm
and the right panel shows the results of the periodogram with the adaptive excision algorithm). (a)~(h):sample 1 ~ sample 8.

7
J. Sun et al.
algorithm. In the experimental setup, we used a custom-built infrared
spectrometer from Shanghai OceanHood Optoelectronics Co., Ltd. The
spectrometer has a bandwidth of 120 nm, a center wavelength of 1020
nm, a resolution of 0.3 nm, an integration time of 100 μs-30 min, and a
signal-to-noise ratio of ≥2000:1. The light source used was a custom-
made SLED infrared light source from Shenzhen Golight Co., Ltd. The
center wavelength of the light source is 1020 nm, the band range is 960
nm-1080 nm, and the power is 20mW (3 dB). The optical probe is our
independently developed achromatic focusing lens with a numerical
aperture of 0.1, a focal length of 40 mm and a measurement angle of ±
5◦ . The operating temperature of the entire measurement system is
0℃–+45℃.
Adaptive spectral excision experiment
Silicon typically absorbs shorter wavelengths of infrared light but
has lower absorption rates for longer wavelengths. Therefore, the actual
collected reflection spectrum often exhibits weakened interference sig­
nals and poor interference quality in the short-wavelength region. In this
experiment, we performed original spectral acquisition on eight epi-
wafer samples and compared the results of the Lomb-Scargle periodo­
grams with and without the adaptive removal algorithm, as shown in
Fig. 6. Each small graph in the figure represents one epi-wafer sample,
where the left graph shows the periodogram obtained directly from the
original spectra, while the right graph shows the periodogram after
applying the adaptive removal algorithm. The true values of substrate
thickness, epitaxial layer thickness, and their sum have been plotted at
the corresponding peaks in the right plot.
Upon examining Fig. 6, it becomes apparent that the Lomb-Scargle
periodogram with the adaptive spectral excision algorithm produces
clearer and more concentrated frequency peaks for each sample, with
less interference between adjacent peaks. In contrast, the periodogram
without the adaptive spectral excision algorithm displays greater noise
and mixed signals. This demonstrates that the adaptive excision algo­
rithm can effectively deal with weak interference signals and poor
interference quality resulting in problems from certain epi-wafers that
Fig. 7. Box plots of experimental results of thickness measurements of the substrate (in each subplot, the left box corresponds to the results obtained through the FFT
method, the middle box to those obtained using the Lomb-Scargle periodogram method, and the right box to the results analyzed with the VLA algorithm proposed in
this paper). (a)~(h):sample 1 ~ sample 8.
8
Results in Physics 54 (2023) 107146
strongly absorb infrared light. The algorithm can selectively remove
regions with poor interference quality and preserve those with high
interference quality, thereby ensuring the completeness and accuracy of
crucial information in the spectrum.
VLA experiment
Substrate thickness measurement
We collected 50 reflection spectra for each sample’s substrate and
epitaxial layer at different times of the same day. We then calculated the
thickness using different time-domain frequency-domain methods. We
used three time-domain frequency-domain transformation methods:
Fourier transform, Lomb-Scargle periodogram, and the VLA technique
proposed in this paper. It is worth emphasizing that these three methods
are all based on FTIR technology and are all based on Equation (11) to
calculate the sample thickness, with their difference being the use of
different methods to obtain fpeak in Equation (11). In Fig. 7, we plotted
the thickness measurement results of the substrate using a box plot. It is
not difficult to see that the VLA algorithm significantly improves both
measurement accuracy and stability. We calculated the mean error and
variance of the results obtained by three different analysis methods and
plotted them in the form of a histogram, as shown in Fig. 8.
Analyzing Measurement Precision: (1) Comparing the results of FFT
with those of the LSP method, the measurement precision using the FFT
approach is 98.86 %, while using the LSP algorithm alone, the mea­
surement precision is 99.67 %, indicating a significant enhancement in
measurement accuracy. Hence, it can be demonstrated that employing
the Lomb-Scargle periodogram during the time-domain to frequency-
domain transformation of the original spectrum is a more promising
technique. (2) Comparing the results of the LSP algorithm alone with
those of the VLA, the measurement precision when using the LSP algo­
rithm alone is 99.67 %, whereas it reaches 99.94 % with the VLA al­
gorithm. This demonstrates that combining the VMD algorithm with the
LSP algorithm can mitigate the impact of uneven light source power
distribution, further improving measurement precision. Analyzing
measurement stability, the results show that using the LSP algorithm
J. Sun et al. Results in Physics 54 (2023) 107146

Fig. 8. Data analysis of substrate thickness measurement experiments. (a) mean value error; (b) variance (statistics).

alone results in an approximately 55 % increase in measurement sta­
bility when compared to using the FFT. Similarly, the VLA algorithm
leads to a roughly 35 % increase in measurement stability when
compared to using the LSP algorithm alone.
Epitaxial layer thickness measurement
We conducted thickness measurements on the epitaxial layer using
identical criteria to the substrate experiment. The experimental findings
corresponded significantly, as illustrated in Figs. 9 and 10.
Thickness extraction experiment
In this experiment, instead of focusing only on the substrate or
epitaxial layer of the epi-wafer samples, we perform thickness mea­
surements on the entire epi-wafer sample to obtain the substrate thick­
ness and epitaxial layer thickness simultaneously. To validate the
accuracy of the high-precision thickness extraction algorithm, we
compare the results of the traditional thickness extraction method with
the results of the proposed high-precision thickness extraction
algorithm.
Fig. 11 shows the residual peak plots of the periodograms of the eight
epi-wafer samples after noise removal, together with the corresponding
coordinates of each peak point. The x-axis depicts the thickness indices
in the given range, while the y-axis depicts the energy or power spectral
density for each thickness index. The traditional thickness extraction
method usually extracts peaks based on their height and left-to-right
order. Simply put, the traditional method identifies the three highest
peaks as follows: the peak with the smallest horizontal coordinate is
considered the epitaxial layer thickness, followed by the substrate
thickness, and the peak with the largest horizontal coordinate is the sum
of the two. Table 1 displays the thickness extraction results of both the
traditional method and the proposed method. An observation reveals,
for the eight epi-wafer samples tested in this investigation, that the
traditional thickness extraction method lacks the required accuracy for
industrial production. Significant deviations are evident in the thickness
results of samples 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6.
Subsequently, we employed a dot plot to illustrate the measurements
of the two thickness extraction methods alongside the reference thick­
ness of the sample, as depicted in Fig. 12. In the figure, the solid gray line
represents the results obtained using the conventional thickness

Fig. 9. Box plots of experimental results of thickness measurements of the epitaxial layer (in each subplot, the left box corresponds to the results obtained through
the FFT method, the middle box to those obtained using the Lomb-Scargle periodogram method, and the right box to the results analyzed with the VLA algorithm
proposed in this paper). (a)~(h):sample 1 ~ sample 8.

9
J. Sun et al. Results in Physics 54 (2023) 107146

Fig. 10. Data analysis of epitaxial layer thickness measurement experiments. (a) mean value error; (b) variance (statistics).

Fig. 11. Remaining peaks after applying the denoising algorithm in section 2.3.2 to the Lomb-Scargle periodogram (each peak represents a thickness value and the
horizontal and vertical coordinates of the peak point have been labelled, where the horizontal coordinate is the thickness value corresponding to that point and the
vertical coordinate is the power spectral density corresponding to that thickness). (a)~(h): sample1 ~ sample8.

Table 1
Comparison of the results of different thickness extraction algorithms (the traditional method uses the thickness extraction method based on peak height and order as
described above; the new method uses the high-precision thickness extraction algorithm proposed in this paper).
Sample number Epitaxial thickness(μm) Substrate thickness(μm)

Traditional method New method Reference thickness Traditional method New method Reference thickness

1 31.06 30.91 31.06 64.11 135.89 136.14

2 11.17 26.87 27.13 26.87 222.07 222.39
3 38.28 38.28 38.51 277.86 277.86 278.05
4 79.35 79.35 79.49 152.51 310.92 311.28
5 37.80 40.01 40.16 40.01 342.59 342.73
6 34.68 34.68 34.92 51.71 477.51 477.38
7 53.81 53.81 54.12 531.57 531.57 531.69
8 57.94 57.94 58.11 620.73 620.73 620.50

Fig. 12. Thickness extraction results using different methods. (a) substrate; (b) epitaxial.

10
J. Sun et al.
extraction method, while the solid blue line represents the outcomes
derived from the precision thickness extraction method introduced in
this study. The red dashed line represents the reference thickness of the
sample. It becomes evident that, whether for the substrate or the
epitaxial layer, the results obtained using the precision thickness
extraction algorithm presented in this study closely approximate the
reference thickness. Furthermore, it is discernible that, in comparison to
the substrate, the results for the epitaxial layer are more precise. This
discrepancy arises due to the relatively greater thickness of the sub­
strate, which is positioned beneath the epitaxial layer, resulting in a
weaker intensity of light beams reflected from the upper and lower
surfaces of the substrate. Consequently, portions of the reflection spec­
trum that convey information about the substrate thickness are more
susceptible to interference from multiple reflected signals, making the
accurate extraction of peak points challenging after the time-domain to
frequency-domain transformation. However, the employment of the
precision thickness extraction algorithm introduced in this study effec­
tively mitigates this issue.
Discussion
This study proposes a potentially effective method for achieving
high-precision measurements of substrate and epitaxial layer thickness
in semiconductor epi-wafers. Nevertheless, there are still some unre­
solved issues that require discussion.
During the computation of the Lomb-Scargle periodogram, a stride,
also known as the frequency range and designated as f in Equation (6),
must be set manually. The Lomb-Scargle periodogram operates by
nonlinearly fitting the raw data over a specified interval provided by the
user. Thus, the determination of f, the frequency range, establishes the
measurement accuracy of the outcome. Practical measurement needs to
guide the selection of f to guarantee both efficient and precise outcomes.
It is necessary to discuss the capabilities of this device. Firstly, the
device uses near-infrared light as its light source. Therefore, the device is
only suitable for testing thin film materials that can be penetrated by
near-infrared light, such as most semiconductor materials and insulating
materials. For most metal materials, we believe that a UV light source
with stronger penetration power is needed. Secondly, the device
currently only applies to double-layer thin films, that is, measuring the
thickness of both the substrate and the single-layer epitaxial layer
simultaneously. We will continue to improve and optimize the algorithm
to make it suitable for measuring the thickness of multi-layer thin films
in the future. Finally, it is also necessary to discuss the range of this
device. (1) Upper Thickness Limit: The maximum thickness that can be
measured is determined by hardware parameters, such as the spec­
trometer and light source used. The light source used covers a wave­
length range of 960 nm to 1080 nm, with a spectral width of 120 nm. The
resolution of the spectrometer is 0.3 nm. Therefore, under optimal
conditions, the reflection spectrum collected comprises 400 sampling
points. Following the Nyquist sampling theorem, a minimum of two
sampling points is required to accurately reconstruct one cycle. Conse­
quently, with 400 sampling points, up to 200 cycles may be restored. For
the wavelength range of 960 nm to 1080 nm, computer-simulated
reflection spectra imply that an 800 μm thickness (n = 2) corresponds
to a reflection spectrum with 200 cycles. Therefore, the upper thickness
limit for measuring thin film materials with a refractive index of 2 is 800
μm. (2) It is important to note the lower thickness limit. The FTIR
method computes thickness based on frequency, and thus, the reflection
spectrum should cover at least one cycle for frequency calculation to be
possible. Simulated reflection spectra between the wavelengths of 960
nm and 1080 nm indicate that a reflection spectrum with a single cycle
corresponds to a thickness of approximately 3 μm. Therefore, the lower
thickness limit for thin film materials with a refractive index of 2 is 3 μm.
To summarize, the measurement range of this system for thin film ma­
terials with a refractive index of 2 spans from 3 μm to 800 μm. By
following the relationship in Equation (11), it is apparent that for a
11
Results in Physics 54 (2023) 107146
refractive index of 1, the range extends from 6 μm to 1600 μm and
beyond.
The VMD decomposition technique is an advanced method for
decomposing signals, and its decomposition performance is highly
influenced by the parameter settings. We found through extensive
experimentation that a larger value of the parameter α results in
smoother low-frequency Imf1 signals, as shown in Equation (9). In our
method, Imf1 represents the baseline signal of a light source when K is set
to 2. If the value of the parameter α is small, the Imf1 signal exhibits
slight cosine trends and retains some frequency information. In some
cases, the intensity of the noise signal surpasses that of the thickness
signal, making it difficult to determine whether the frequency compo­
nents carried by the Imf1 signal when α is reduced represent noise or
thickness information. Thus, determining the parameter α has an impact
on the accuracy of the final measurement results. In this study, we set
the parameter to 3000 based on experimental experience, but the ac­
curate determination of parameter α through spectral quality or infrared
source parameters is possible. This is also the main focus of our future
research.
Furthermore, the VMD decomposition technique introduces errors in
the reconstructed Imf components’ center frequency and bandwidth
compared to the original spectrum signal. Although these errors have no
impact on the current measurement accuracy, we believe a previously
suggested EMD decomposition method can prevent such a situation. The
principles of the completely data-driven EMD decomposition technique,
which does not require any signal reconstruction process, have been
extensively studied. However, the EMD decomposition method was not
chosen because it cannot control the number of decomposed modes, i.e.
the K-value in the VMD algorithm. As a result, the EMD method may
decompose the substrate and epitaxial layer thickness into different
modes or place them within the same mode when decomposing the
original spectrum. This depends solely on the intensity of the noise
interference signal. However, it is believed that for the measurement of
single-layer thin films, the EMD decomposition method provides better
results. This is because only the calculation of the Lomb-Scargle perio­
dogram for the Imf1 component is required. Single-layer thin films do not
exhibit secondary interference phenomena, and the quality of interfer­
ence between reflected and transmitted light is good, with thickness
information necessarily present in the high-frequency component Imf1.
However, for the double-layer epi-wafer samples used in this study, the
VMD method is more appropriate.
This study conducted two denoising processes, which will be
explained for clarity. The initial denoising process involves setting the
VMD decomposition modal number, K, to 2 during the VLA algorithm.
Setting K to 2 corresponds to Imf1 representing the slowly changing part
of the signal characterized by low-frequency vibrations and long-term
trends. Imf1 was discarded, and only the Lomb-Scargle periodogram
calculation for Imf2 was performed to eliminate a fraction of the weak
noise signal. However, this alone is insufficient for achieving the final
thickness extraction. Thus, a second noise removal process is included in
the high-precision thickness extraction algorithm. This process is per­
formed through Equation (15). The second noise removal process is
capable of removing most of the noise in the original spectra, thereby
reducing computational time for the subsequent thickness extraction
process and improving efficiency and accuracy. The interplay of these
two noise removal processes resulted in more accurate and stable
thickness extraction.
Conclusion
In this paper, we present a highly accurate method for measuring the
thickness of a semiconductor epi-wafer using Fourier infrared interfer­
ometry. The proposed method uses the VLA algorithm, which carries out
VMD decomposition and Lomb-Scargle periodogram calculation on the
original spectrum. Through this, we can obtain frequency components
that represent the thicknesses of both the epi-wafer substrate and
J. Sun et al.
epitaxial layer, and accurately calculate their thicknesses simulta­
neously. Furthermore, we introduce an adaptive spectral excision al­
gorithm and a high-precision thickness extraction algorithm in this
paper. The adaptive spectral excision algorithm addresses the problem
of weak interference signals, which is caused by the different reflectiv­
ities of the epi-wafer substrate and epitaxial layer, as well as the
different infrared absorption capabilities of the materials in the spectral
region. Weakly interfering spectral portions are removed adaptively to
enhance the quality of the original spectrum. The high-precision thick­
ness extraction algorithm employs thickness constraints to accurately
extract peak thickness information while filtering out multiple inter­
ference peaks arising due to the unique bilayer structure of the epi-wafer
sample. Experiments show that accurate thickness measurement has
been attained for epi-wafer samples of varying thicknesses and mate­
rials. This method simplifies the measurement process, decreases pro­
duction expenses, and demonstrates high stability and reliability. Thus,
this approach is highly suitable to fulfill the demand for rapid and
efficient epi-wafer thickness measurement in industrial manufacturing.
Author contribution statement
Jiaxing Sun, Zhisong Li, Haojie Zhang: Conceived and designed the
experiments; Performed the experiments; Analyzed and interpreted the
data; Contributed reagents, materials, analysis tools or data; Wrote the
paper. Tianbao Zhai, Jinlong Song: Performed the experiments;
Analyzed and interpreted the data; Contributed reagents, materials,
analysis tools or data; Wrote the paper.
Funding statement
This work was supported in part by the Natural Science Foundation
of Shanghai under Grant 21ZR1424600, in part by the National Natural
Science Foundation of China under Grant 51975116, and in part by the
Natural Science Foundation of Shanghai under Grant 21ZR1402900.
The authors would also like to thank the editors and reviewers for their
valuable suggestions and kind work.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Jiaxing Sun: Methodology, Writing – original draft, Writing – re­
view & editing. Zhisong Li: . Haojie Zhang: Data curation. Jinlong
Song: Resources. Tianbao Zhai: Validation, Visualization.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Data availability
Data will be made available on request.
References
[1] Lee N-Y, et al. Characterization of Si Epitaxial Layer grown on highly-doped Si substrate
by using THz reflection spectroscopy, in: 2022 47th International Conference on
Infrared, Millimeter and Terahertz Waves (IRMMW-THz). 2022. IEEE.
[2] Kukushkin S, Osipov A. Epitaxial silicon carbide on silicon. method of coordinated
substitution of atoms (a review). Russ J Gen Chem 2022;92(4):584–610.
[3] Burk Jr AA, et al. Industrial Perspective of SiC Epitaxy. Wide Bandgap
Semiconductors for Power Electronics: Materials, Devices, Applications 2021;1:
75–92.
[4] Lee K, et al. Giant tunneling electroresistance in epitaxial ferroelectric ultrathin
films directly integrated on Si. Appl Mater Today 2022;26:101308.
[5] Chaluvadi SK, et al. Integration of epitaxial La2/3Sr1/3MnO3 thin films on silicon-
on-sapphire substrate for MEMS applications. Appl Surf Sci 2022;579:152095.
[6] Maniscalco B, Kaminski P, Walls J. Thin film thickness measurements using
scanning white light interferometry. Thin Solid Films 2014;550:10–6.
12
Results in Physics 54 (2023) 107146
[7] Lee J, Jin J. Thickness and refractive index measurements of a thin-film using an
artificial neural network algorithm. Metrologia 2023;60(2):025001.
[8] Cho D-H, et al. High-speed wafer film measurement with heterogeneous optical
sensor system. Metrology, Inspection, and Process Control for Semiconductor
Manufacturing XXXV. SPIE; 2021.
[9] Park J, et al. Thickness measurements and uncertainty evaluation of a multilayer
thin-film sample using auxiliary single-layer samples. Metrologia 2023;60(2):
025007.
[10] Meyer D. Epi wafers: preparation and properties. In: Handbook of Silicon Based
MEMS Materials and Technologies. Elsevier; 2020. p. 111–31.
[11] Vahlman, H., et al. Monitoring of porous silicon layers for epitaxial wafer production
using inline reflectance spectroscopy. in AIP Conference Proceedings. 2023. AIP
Publishing.
[12] Lee S-M, Kim Y-W. Morphological characterization of 325 mesh-grinding-induced
defects on silicon wafer surface. Microelectron Reliab 2022;139:114846.
[13] Hilfiker JN, Hong N, Schoeche S. Mueller matrix spectroscopic ellipsometry.
Advanced Optical Technologies 2022;11(3–4):59–91.
[14] Kim D, et al. High speed thin film thickness mapping by using dynamic
spectroscopic imaging ellipsometry. Optical Technology and Measurement for
Industrial Applications Conference 2022. SPIE; 2022.
[15] Chen C, et al. Imaging Mueller matrix ellipsometry with sub-micron resolution
based on back focal plane scanning. Opt Express 2021;29(20):32712–27.
[16] Loo R, et al. Analysis of Selectively Grown Epitaxial Si1− x Ge x by Spectroscopic
Ellipsometry and Comparison with Other Established Techniques. J Electrochem
Soc 2000;147(2):751.
[17] Levi D, et al. Real-time spectroscopic ellipsometry studies of the growth of
amorphous and epitaxial silicon for photovoltaic applications. J Vac Sci Technol A
2006;24(4):1676–83.
[18] Pickering C. Spectroscopic ellipsometry for monitoring and control of surfaces, thin
layers and interfaces. Surface and Interface Analysis: an International Journal
Devoted to the Development and Application of Techniques for the Analysis of
Surfaces. Interfaces and Thin Films 2001;31(10):927–37.
[19] Tu X, et al. Design, fabrication and testing of achromatic elliptical polarizer. Opt
Express 2017;25(9):10355–67.
[20] Grunewald T, et al. Measurement of layer thicknesses with an improved
optimization method for depolarizing Mueller matrices. Meas Sci Technol 2020;31
(11):115010.
[21] Zhou Z-H, Reif R. Epi-film thickness measurements using emission Fourier
transform infrared spectroscopy. II. Real-time in situ process monitoring and
control. IEEE Trans Semicond Manuf 1995;8(3):340–5.
[22] Kildemo M, Dalsrud V, Fostad O. Measurement of physical thicknesses in
micromachined structures consisting of glass and c-Si, by Fourier transform
infrared. Opt Eng 1999;38(9):1542–52.
[23] Jeong MG, et al. Subsurface Imaging of Microfabricated Silicon Membrane-Cavity
Structures Using Near-Infrared Interferometry. Adv Eng Mater 2022;24(10):
2200531.
[24] Shcherbin K, et al. Near-infrared sensitive two-wave mixing adaptive
interferometer based on a liquid crystal light valve with a semiconductor substrate.
Appl Opt 2022;61(22):6498–503.
[25] Park J, et al. A review of thickness measurements of thick transparent layers using
optical interferometry. Int J Precis Eng Manuf 2019;20:463–77.
[26] Teh WH, et al. Backside infrared interferometric patterned wafer thickness sensing
for through-silicon-via (TSV) etch metrology. IEEE Trans Semicond Manuf 2010;23
(3):419–22.
[27] Boulet C, Hathaway M, Jackson DA. Fiber-optic-based absolute displacement
sensors at 1500 nm by means of a variant of channeled spectrum signal recovery.
Opt Lett 2004;29(14):1602–4.
[28] Sun J, et al. A method for measuring and calibrating the thickness of thin films
based on infrared interference technology. Results Phys 2023;51:106727.
[29] Press, W.H. and G.B. Rybicki, Fast algorithm for spectral analysis of unevenly sampled
data. Astrophysical Journal, Part 1 (ISSN 0004-637X), vol. 338, March 1, 1989, p.
277-280., 1989. 338: p. 277-280.
[30] Liu T, Fernando G. A frequency division multiplexed low-finesse fiber optic Fabry-
Perot sensor system for strain and displacement measurements. Rev Sci Instrum
2000;71(3):1275–8.
[31] Jiang Y. Fourier transform white-light interferometry for the measurement of fiber-
optic extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometric sensors. IEEE Photon Technol Lett 2007;
20(2):75–7.
[32] VanderPlas JT. Understanding the lomb–scargle periodogram. Astrophys J Suppl
Ser 2018;236(1):16.
[33] Lu Y, et al. Meta-analysis of Photometric and Asteroseismic Measurements of
Stellar Rotation Periods: The Lomb-Scargle Periodogram, Autocorrelation
Function, and Wavelet and Rotational Splitting Analysis for 92 Kepler
Asteroseismic Targets. Astrophys J 2022;941(2):175.
[34] Dickman, A., 14.2 Modified Lomb–Scargle Algorithm. Verified Signal Processing
Algorithms in MATLAB and C: Advised by Israel Greiss, 2022: p. 161.
[35] Carpintero, D. Analysis Techniques: the Lomb-Scargle Periodogram. in Workshop Series
of the Asociacion Argentina de Astronomia. 2021.
[36] Leroy B. Fast calculation of the Lomb-Scargle periodogram using nonequispaced
fast Fourier transforms. A & A 2012;545:A50.
[37] Dragomiretskiy K, Zosso D. Variational mode decomposition. IEEE Trans Signal
Process 2013;62(3):531–44.
[38] Ur Rehman N, Aftab H. Multivariate variational mode decomposition. IEEE Trans
Signal Process 2019;67(23):6039–52.
J. Sun et al. Results in Physics 54 (2023) 107146

[39] Lian J, et al. Adaptive variational mode decomposition method for signal [41] Nazari M, Sakhaei SM. Successive variational mode decomposition. Signal Process
processing based on mode characteristic. Mech Syst Sig Process 2018;107:53–77. 2020;174:107610.
[40] Wang Y, Markert R. Filter bank property of variational mode decomposition and its
applications. Signal Process 2016;120:509–21.

13