Thin-film deposition

Atoms or molecules settle on a surface in a vacuum or gas chamber, building up layers that can be only nanometers thick.

17 lines that use it

Camera lens 6 stations · 10 raw sources Camera sensor 6 stations · 15 raw sources Compact disc 6 stations · 20 raw sources Drill bit 7 stations · 15 raw sources E-reader 6 stations · 30 raw sources Hard drive 6 stations · 27 raw sources Indium tin oxide 7 stations · 15 raw sources Lab-grown diamond 6 stations · 3 raw sources LED 8 stations · 10 raw sources Memory chip 7 stations · 10 raw sources Microchip 8 stations · 15 raw sources Mirror 5 stations · 28 raw sources OLED screen 6 stations · 16 raw sources Optical fiber 6 stations · 12 raw sources Polysilicon 5 stations · 8 raw sources Razor blade 6 stations · 16 raw sources Vinyl record 9 stations · 24 raw sources

What it looks like on the line

Razor bladeCoat the edge. Blades are stacked with their edges aligned, and a hard layer of metal such as chromium is sputtered on. A fluoropolymer is then applied and heated until it clings to the edge, so it glides across skin.
Memory chipWire the cells together. Metal lines are deposited and etched on top to reach every row and column of cells.
Compact discMetalize the surface. A thin layer of aluminum, or rarely gold, is deposited over the pits in a vacuum chamber. The metal fills the surface so that light is reflected differently from pits and flat areas.
Vinyl recordSilver the lacquer. The disc is washed and sprayed with tin chloride and liquid silver, which gives it a conductive skin. Silver that does not stick is washed away.
Indium tin oxideSputter onto glass. In a vacuum chamber, inert gas ions strike the target and knock material onto the glass as a thin film. Sputtering won out because it covers large areas and repeats well. Electron beam evaporation is another route.
Camera sensorWire the readout. Metal layers connect every pixel to row and column circuits, so the whole array can be read out line by line.
Camera lensCoat the surfaces. In a vacuum chamber, thin layers of material are laid down on each surface to cut reflections. Without coatings, light bouncing between the many surfaces would wash out contrast.
LEDEvaporate on metal. In a vacuum chamber, a chunk of metal is heated until it vaporizes and condenses on the open areas of the wafer, the way steam fogs a cold window. Solvent lifts off the resist, and a furnace bonds metal to crystal so it will not flake.
OLED screenEvaporate the organic films. Small-molecule materials are vapor-deposited in vacuum chambers, layer by layer, which keeps the film growth and the device build in one controlled environment. Polymer films, which would break apart in vacuum, are spin-coated or printed from solution instead.
OLED screenLay a clear anode. Indium tin oxide is deposited as the anode because it is transparent and good at injecting positive charge into the organic layer.
E-readerBuild the transistor grid. A sheet of glass or plastic gets a grid of thin-film transistors, one for each dot. The grid lets the device set the voltage over each pixel separately.
Memory chipBuild up the stack. In charge-trap flash, a silicon nitride layer replaces the floating gate and traps electrons. In 3D NAND the cells are stacked vertically. Samsung's first device in 2013 had 24 layers, and later dies went well past that.