Monitoring sidewall tilting of pixelated nanogratings in 3D display

Abstract

Sidewall tilting is an important parameter to describe the grating morphology and would affect the diffraction efficiency of three-dimensional (3D) display devices based on pixelated nanogratings. However, there is currently a lack of a non-destructive measurement method that can accurately measure the sidewall tilting of the pixelated nanogratings. This is mainly because the kind of nanograting is manufactured in a micron-scale pixel region and the grating lines generally have various directions to ensure that the display device can display images smoothly. In this work, we propose to use a home-made imaging Mueller matrix ellipsometer (IMME) to monitor sidewall tilting of pixelated nanogratings. Simulation and experiments were carried out to characterize the sidewall tilting angle. Through the combination of Mueller matrix elements, we can quickly and qualitatively identify the tilting angle for the purpose of on-line quality monitoring of the device. Through the inverse calculation of the Mueller matrix, we can accurately and quantitatively obtain the value of the tilting, so as to meet the demands of the device design. It is expected the proposed method can provide guidance for the identification and detection of tilting in 3D display elements based on pixelated gratings.