Thin film technology
0601012-208
[DEFINITION]
A technology that forms thin films on substrate.
[DESCRIPTION]
A thin film is a film formed on substrate by means of vacuum deposition
or ion sputtering, and so on. The film thickness ranges from a layer of
single atoms or molecules, to 5 μm thickness. Usually the term refers to
those of a thickness of 1 μm or thinner. A thin film can change properties
such as color, reflectivity, and friction coefficient of the substrate,
while the shape of the substrate is left practically unchanged. Phenomena
like optical interference and surface diffusion are noticeably affected
by formation of thin films. Thin films formations usually take nonequilibrium,
heterogeneous nuclear formation step, which brings on structural properties
different from that of bulk materials produced under ordinary equilibrium
conditions. In one application, thin film technology combined with etching
improved the degree of integration of a thermal printer head that was conventionally
manufactured by thick film technology.
[References]
(17)(23)(24)
[Related Terms]
Thick film technology