Multiple-angle incidence resolution spectrometry (MAIRS): applications in nanoarchitectonics and applied physics

Abstract The cutting-edge thin film studies using the multiple-angle incidence resolution spectrometry (MAIRS) are introduced from the principle to forefront applications in a wide variety of research fields covering semiconductor material with respect to nanoarchitectonics. MAIRS basically reveals quantitatively optical anisotropy in thin films, which is mostly used for quantitative molecular orientation analysis of each chemical group for chemistry purposes. This works powerfully especially when the material has poor crystallinity that cannot be analyzed by X-ray diffraction analysis. As a matter of fact, MAIRS works as a role that compensates for the diffraction techniques, and the combination of MAIRS and the diffraction techniques has already established as the most powerful technique not to miss the molecular aggregation structure in thin films. In this review, in addition, another application for physics purposes is also introduced where phonon in thin films is discriminated from normal infrared absorption bands by using the MAIRS technique.