Vacuum Technology, Thin Films, and Sputtering

Vacuum technology, thin films, vacuum evaporation, and sputtering deal closely with the atomic domain. We are all somewhat familiar with the ideas of atoms and molecules, but it would not be wise to open our considerations of the subject matter of this book as if we all had a working familiarity with atomic physics. Instead, it is our hope that we shall be able to relate subjects with which we are familiar to the atomic domain in such a way as to find that our knowledge is greater than we may have suspected. We shall use the processes of induction and deduction to gain further knowledge of atoms and molecules, striving always to relate this knowledge to the subject matter of the book. Our intent is to begin with the familiar and lead into areas with which we must become familiar. In keeping with this intent, our first topic of discussion is evaporation. Evaporation, a subject with which we have been familiar since our earliest years, leads directly to discussions of the states of matter. This leads to discussions of atoms and molecules and thence to consideration of vacuums and vacuum technology. A parallel line of discussion leads from evaporation to thin films.