Materials Science of Thin Films, 2nd Edition

Chapter 2 Vacuum Science and Technology

2.1 INTRODUCTION

Virtually every thin-film deposition and processing method or technique employed to characterize and measure the properties of films requires either a vacuum or some sort of reduced-pressure ambient. For example, there are plasma discharges, sustained at reduced gas pressures, in which many important thin-film deposition and etching processes occur. Evacuated spaces are usually populated by uncharged gas atoms and molecules, but in addition to these, electrons and ionized gas species are present in the more complex plasmas. To better understand these reduced pressure environments a brief introduction to aspects of vacuum science and technology is the starting point of this book. It is ...