10th International Conference on Spectroscopic Ellipsometry

ICSE is a conference series that was founded in 1993 and is held approximately every three years to share new ideas related to ellipsometric and optical-characterization applications such as materials characterization, real-time process analysis and control, and instrumentation development that takes advantage of the polarization properties of electromagnetic radiation in the spectral region from terahertz to soft-X-ray wavelengths. The conference brings together an international cohort of experienced scientists and leaders of the community, as well as graduate students, postdoctoral research associates, and other early-career professionals.

At the 10^th such Conference, it is appropriate to look back to gain an appreciation not only of how far the field has come, but also how far science and technology has evolved.  The present series follows three Conferences on Ellipsometry (without “spectroscopic”).  These were held at the National Bureau of Standards (now NIST) in Washington, DC in 1963, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1968, and in Paris in 1983.  The Forward of the `1963 Conference notes that “an important responsibility of the NBS is the development and improvement of measurement techniques and the dissemination of information about them.” 

The Proceedings of all three of these precursor Conferences make interesting reading today, not only because of the absence of spectroscopy and resulting severely limited possibilities regarding applications, but also because the first two Proceedings include audience questions and comments.  In the first two Conferences much time was spent interpreting the Fresnel Equations and studying time-dependent processes such as oxidation and annealing.  Difficulties in accurately determining the null condition for null ellipsometers precluded efforts at spectroscopy;  the wavelength 546.1 nm of the Hg green line was largely understood.  However, by the time of the 1983 Paris Conference this had already begun to change, and by the 1993 Paris Conference spectroscopic ellipsometry was well established.

With progress comes new challenges, and we expect the program to be presented in Boulder will rise to meet these challenges.

The Organizing Committee