The initial stages of ALD surface reactions are probed using dynamic in situ spectroscopic ellipsometry (d-iSE) technique during plasma-enhanced ALD of zirconium nitride (ZrN) thin films in spectral range of 0.73-6.4 eV. The measured change in the ellipsometry parameter Delta, with every precursor (TDMAZr) and reactant (forming gas plasma) exposure is interpreted as the combined effect of film growth and change in surface chemistry during ALD. We present application of Bruggeman's effective-medium approximation (B-EMA) in the analysis of d-iSE data to determine fractional surface coverage (theta) of ALD grown film at the end of every deposition cycle. During the deposition of first few ZrN monolayers, d-iSE datasets are analyzed on the basis of surface diffusion enhanced ALD growth, where the surface adsorbed precursor molecules can diffuse over substrate surface to occupy energetically favorable surface sites. The determined surface coverage of ZrN films highlights the effects of substrate enhanced ALD growth. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.