Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 February 2011
Various optical diagnostics are being developed to meet new challenges in semiconductor epitaxy. New data-analysis algorithms allow near-surface alloy compositions and interface properties to be obtained by kinetic ellipsometry (KE) without any knowledge of the underlying sample structure. New information about growth is being obtained by surface-oriented probes such as laser light scattering (LLS), surface photoabsorption (SPA), anrd reflectance-difference (-anisotropy) spectroscopy (RDS/RAS). Examples are provided and likely directions of further progress discussed.