A material independent profiler system and method for measuring a slope on
the surface of an object such as a thin film disk, a silicon wafer, or a
glass substrate is disclosed. In one embodiment, the system comprises an
electromagnetic energy source to generate a beam of electromagnetic
energy, a polarizer to polarize the beam of electromagnetic energy into a
first component having a first polarization orientation and a second
component having a second polarization orientation, a radiation targeting
assembly to direct the first component onto the surface in a first
direction and a first plane of orientation, direct the second component
onto the surface in a second direction and a second plane of orientation,
wherein the second direction is opposite the first direction, a radiation
detector assembly to generate a first signal from a portion of the first
component reflected from the surface, generate a second signal from a
portion of the second component reflected from the surface, and a
processor to generate a surface measurement from the first signal and the
second signal.