Phase shifting interferometry using a spatial light modulator to measure optical thin films

This work describes a process for measuring thin film steps, using phase shifting interferometry (PSI). The phase shifts are applied only in the region where the thin film steps are located. The phase shift is achieved by displaying different gray levels on a spatial light modulator (SLM Holoeye LC2012) placed in one arm of a Twyman-Green (T-G) interferometer. Before measuring the thin film steps, it was necessary to quantify the phase shifts achieved with this SLM by measuring the fringe shifts in experimental interferograms. The phase shifts observed in the interference patterns were produced by displaying the different gray levels on the SLM one by one, from 0 to 255. The experimental interferograms and the thicknesses of the thin film steps were successfully quantified, proving that this method can be used to measure thin films by applying the PSI method only on the region occupied by them.