Disclosed is an achromatic spectroscopic ellispometer for analyzing small
regions of a sample over a wide range of wavelengths from ultraviolet
(UV) to infrared (IR). The spectroscopic ellipsometer contains a light
source emitting a light beam which passes through a polarisation state
generator section before being focused at an incidence angle q by a first
parabolic mirror to a small spot on a sample. A second parabolic mirror
collects the reflected beam and connects said beam to an analyzing
section. The reflected beam emerges from the analyzing section and is
spectroscopically detected and analyzed. The light beam through the
polarisation state generator section up to the first parabolic mirror and
the light beam from the second mirror through the analyzing section are
parallel enabling achromatism. The incidence angle q is largely varied
without shifting of the location of the small spot on the sample surface.