Amorphous Thin Film Deposition

Abstract

This chapter is devoted to the description of available experimental methods which are used for the fabrication of glassy and amorphous thin films or coatings on glass. Current deposition techniques offer great flexibility for the fabrication of such thin films with specific chemistry and microstructure leading to films and coatings with distinctive properties. After a brief introduction to amorphous thin films' processing, general information regarding film nucleation and growth, its microstructure and films' characterization techniques, the main focus is on physical vapor deposition techniques, with special emphasis on plasma processing techniques, i. e., sputter deposition and pulsed laser deposition. The classical vapor deposition techniques as well as ion plating and ion beam-assisted deposition are also briefly described. The chapter then describes the exploitation of chemical vapor deposition, after which a comparison of physical vapor deposition processes with chemical vapor deposition is given. Amorphous thin film fabrication via liquids is shortly reviewed, and finally an outlook regarding the contribution of amorphous thin films and coatings to societal development in the 21st century closes the chapter.