DEFINITION:

Sputtering = deposition of material by bombarding a source with ions and removing the atoms from the source

History:

• discovered in 1852 by Sir William Robert Grove
• developed as deposition process in 1920s by Langmuir

Untill 1960, evaporation was preferred due to higher deposition rates, applicability to all materials, cleaner environment.

After 1960, sputtering was preferred due to the possibility to deposit alloys with stringent stoichiometry.

Main application: deposition of metal layers

Examples of sputtering:

• DC sputtering
• RF sputtering
• magnetron sputtering
• collimated and ionized sputtering
• reactive sputtering