Thin film 1033036 222313802 2008-06-28T17:47:36Z 60.234.208.121 {{Unreferenced|date=June 2008}} {{Cleanup|date=June 2008}} {{Merge|Thin-film deposition|date=June 2008}} '''Thin films''' are thin material layers ranging from fractions of a [[nanometre]] to several [[micrometre]]s in thickness. [[Electronics|Electronic]] [[semiconductor]] devices and [[optical]] coatings are the main applications benefiting from thin film construction. Some work is being done with [[ferromagnetic]] thin films as well for use as computer memory. [[Ceramic]] thin films are also in wide use. The relatively high hardness and inertness of [[ceramic]] materials make this type of thin coating of interest for protection of substrate materials against corrosion, oxidation and wear. In particular, the use of such coatings on cutting tools may extend the life of these items by several orders of magnitude. The engineering of thin films is complicated by the fact that their physics is in some cases not well understood. In particular, the problem of [[dewetting]] may be hard to solve, as there is ongoing debate and research into some processes by which this may occur. ==Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD)== {{main|Physical vapor deposition}} Physical vapor deposition (PVD) refers to a variety of vacuum deposition techniques that deposit [[thin film]]s by the condensation of vaporized material onto a substrate. The coating material can be evaporated thermally, or by laser or electron bombardment. PVD can be used to deposit metals, alloys, ceramics, composites and multilayers. ===PVD techniques=== *[[Evaporation (deposition)|Thermal Evaporation]] *[[Electron beam physical vapor deposition]] *[[Sputtering]] *[[Pulsed laser deposition]] *[[Cathodic Arc Deposition]] ==Chemical vapor deposition (CVD)== {{main|Chemical vapor deposition}} Chemical vapor deposition uses vapor phase chemical reaction to deposit thin film on a substrate. ===CVD techniques=== *[[Chemical vapor deposition]] *[[Plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition|Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD)]] *[[Metalorganic chemical vapor deposition]] *[[Hybrid Physical-Chemical Vapor Deposition]] == Thin films for solar power== {{Splitsection|Thin film photovoltaics}} Thin-film technologies are also being developed as a means of substantially reducing the cost of [[photovoltaic]] (PV) systems. The rationale for this is that thin-film modules are expected to be cheaper to manufacture owing to their reduced material costs, energy costs, handling costs and capital costs. However, thin films have had to be developed using new semiconductor materials, including [[amorphous silicon]], [[copper]] [[indium]] [[selenide|diselenide]], [[cadmium]] [[telluride]] and film [[silicon|crystalline silicon]]. In all cases, these technologies face major technical and financial hurdles. Research Institutes and Universities involved with thin film photovoltaic technologies: <ref>http://www.idtechex.com/products/en/view.asp?productcategoryid=130</ref> * [[AIST]] - National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology * [[Arizona State University ]] * [[Colorado State University]] * [[École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne]] * [[Florida Solar Energy Centre]] * [[Fraunhofer ISE]] * [[Helsinki University of Technology]] ([[TKK]]) * [[IMEC]] * [[Imperial College London]] * [[Idaho National Laboratory]] (INL) * [[KAIST]] - Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology * [[Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory]] * [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] (MIT) * [[National Renewable Energy Laboratory]] (NREL) * [[University of Delaware]] - [[Institute of Energy Conversion]] (IEC) == High precision thin film deposition on large substrates == [[Image:Linearschematic.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Schematic of Linear Target technology]] One of the major barriers met in thin film [[deposition]] is the ability to coat large dimension substrates whilst obtaining high precision results with [[mono]] or [[multi|multi-layer]] [[deposition]]. The [[HiTUS]] plasma [[sputter deposition]] technology together with the Linear Target technology has demonstrated major improvements in desired results such as [[precision]], [[uniformity]], stress control from [[compressive]] to [[tensile]] with zero in between, and [[roughness]] on substrates measuring up to and over and above 50 to 60 cm. The Linear Target also enables the development of a large area [[linear]] process with the same advantages as HiTUS for roll-to-roll or [[in-line]] processes. ==Other techniques== *[[Atomic Layer Deposition|Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD)]] *[[Copper indium gallium selenide]] (CIGS) *[[CVD|Condensed Vapour Deposition]] *[[Electrodeposition]] *Flame Hydrolysis Deposition *[[Molecular beam epitaxy]] * Seeding technology *[[Sol gel|Sol-Gel Process]] *[[Solar cell]] *[[Spin coating]] *[[Carbon nanotubes in photovoltaics]] *[[Sputter deposition]] *[[Chemical Bath Deposition|Thin-film deposition in CBD (Chemical Bath Deposition) method]] ==References== == External links == * [http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/thin-film-solar-has-bright-future-946.html Thin-Film Solar Has Bright Future]. [[Category:thin films]] [[de:Dünne Schichten]] [[es:Lámina delgada]] [[fr:Couche mince]] [[ko:박막]] [[ja:薄膜]] [[vi:Màng mỏng]]