Skip to main content
Engineering LibreTexts

14: Physical Vapour Deposition of Thin Films

  • Page ID
    8261
  • \( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \) \( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)\(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)\(\newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)

    Learning Objectives

    On completion of this TLP you should:

    • Explain how Evaporation can be used as a deposition technique, and know what external factors have an effect.
    • Know how temperature affects the necessary vapour pressure of the material for evaporation to occur.
    • Describe the basic Sputtering technique, and the difficulties which it presents.
    • Discuss the complications which arise when the film is to be made of an alloy or compound.
    • Explain the process of laser ablation and how it can improve on other Physical Vapour Deposition (PVD) techniques.
    • Know how energy contributes to the structure and properties of the final film.
    • Describe the 3 basic growth modes and what conditions favour each.

    Before you start

    There are no specific requirements.

    The practicalities of coating mechanics are covered here.

    It may also be useful to look at this simulation of epitaxial growth.


    This page titled 14: Physical Vapour Deposition of Thin Films is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Dissemination of IT for the Promotion of Materials Science (DoITPoMS) via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.

    • Was this article helpful?