Sputtering is a physical vapour deposition method that involves depositing thin films in a vacuum environment. During this process, a solid material and substrate are positioned separately within a vacuum system. A high-energy argon ion plasma stream is targeted at the material, resulting in the subject material being ejected and deposited onto the substrate, creating a thin film. As this is not an evaporative process, the temperatures required for sputtering are lower than evaporation methods. This makes it one of the most flexible deposition processes and it is particularly useful for depositing materials with a high melting point or a mixture of materials, as compounds that may evaporate at different rates, can be sputtered at the same rate. Certain processes will benefit from improved film adhesion due to higher impact energy. The sputtering process is used extensively in the semiconductor industry, screen displays, photovoltaics and magnetic data storage. Sputtering can be used to deposit a wide variety of thin films including metals, oxides, nitrides and alloys.

Molecular Beam Epitaxy is a deposition technique that allows for crystals to be grown with extremely high purity. The process allows for subnanometre control over the structure of the crystal as it’s grown and positioning of dopants within the material, as well as film thickness. A series of molecular beams are directed onto a heated crystalline substrate. Upon collision with the substrate, the molecules in the beam bind, forming a new crystal layer. The entire growth occurs in an ultra high vacuum and there is no chemical mixing before the beams reach the substrate surface.

Electron-beam evaporation is a physical vapour deposition method for depositing thin films of metals, oxides and semiconductors in a high vacuum environment. Ultra high purity coating material is placed inside a vacuum chamber, typically as pellets in a crucible. Electron energy is used to heat these pellets, causing the coating material to enter the gas phase. Due to the vacuum environment, the evaporated particles can travel to the substrate without colliding with foreign particles, where they then condense on the substrate surface in a thin film. Electron beam evaporation is used to deposit electronic and optical films for the semiconductor industry and has applications in displays and photovoltaics. High melting point materials can be deposited at high deposition rates, making this a preferred process for refractory metal and ceramic films.

Thermal Evaporation is one of the simplest forms of physical vapor deposition (PVD). It uses heat to evaporate a high purity source material that moves through a vacuum chamber and deposits a thin film on a substrate. Thermal evaporation can be used to deposit metals, organic, and inorganic polymers. In this method, electrical energy is used to heat a filament which in turn heats a deposition material to the point of evaporation. The process can be performed at very high levels of vacuum to eliminate collisions with foreign particles and therefore fewer tendencies to introduce film impurities. High deposition rates can be achieved and lower energy particles can reduce substrate damage. Thermal evaporation is widely used when creating polymer solar cells and flexible electronics.

MPCVD is a chemical vapour deposition process which uses a continuous microwave source to create and help to maintain a highly reactive plasma made up of the reacting chemicals and necessary catalysts. MPCVD is heavily used in the ANFF network to deposit layers of diamond – methane and hydrogen are introduced and used to grow new diamond on a diamond-seeded substrate. ANFF equipment can introduce dopants to the carbon structure while its being grown. These include boron which can create superconducting diamond, and nitrogen vacancies which can produce interesting photo-luminescence properties that are being exploited for quantum information systems.

Parylene coating is a thin-film technology used to protect components in electronics, medical devices, aerospace, and automotive industries. The process involves vapor deposition polymerisation, ensuring a uniform and pinhole-free coating. Key features include uniform coverage, excellent barrier properties, biocompatibility, and high dielectric strength. Applications range from protecting circuit boards and medical implants to shielding aerospace and automotive components from harsh conditions.

Low Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition. It is a technique that uses heat and low pressure to deposit thin films of various materials on a solid substrate. The low pressure reduces unwanted gas phase reactions and improves film uniformity. The film formation occurs when a precursor gas reacts with the substrate surface.

Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapour Deposition (PECVD) uses a plasma to deposit a thin film of silicon dioxide or silicon nitrate onto a substrate. PECVD uses lower temperatures than the furnace systems to achieve an insulating layer on a variety of materials. PECVD is used in optics, microelectronics, energy applications, packaging and chemistry for the deposition of anti-reflective coatings, scratch resistant transparent coatings, electronically active layers, passivation layers, dielectric layers, isolating layers, etch stop layers, encapsulation and chemical protective coatings.

Thermal Atomic Layer Deposition (T-ALD) is a thin-film deposition technique that relies on sequential, self-limiting chemical reactions to deposit materials one atomic layer at a time. This process ensures precise control over film thickness and composition, making it ideal for applications requiring high-quality, uniform thin films.

Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) involves the deposition of materials one atomic monolayer at a time. It forms extremely uniform, conformal, pin-hole-free coatings even on high-aspect-ratio structures. This is achieved by pulsing a chemical precursor onto a hydroxylated substrate surface which reacts, resulting in a monolayer of material to be formed. The unused precursor is purged from the chamber and then the surface is again hydroxylated with water vapour or oxygen, followed by another purge. These steps are then repeated until the desired thickness of material is achieved. ALD has a vast array of applications from semiconductors, MEMS, nanostructures and optics through to wear-resistant coatings.

PA-ALD, also known as Plasma-Enhanced ALD (PEALD), incorporates plasma into the ALD process. Plasma is a highly energised state of matter containing ions, electrons, and neutral particles. By using plasma, PA-ALD enhances the reactivity of precursors, allowing deposition at lower temperatures. This is particularly useful for substrates that cannot tolerate high thermal budgets, such as polymers or temperature-sensitive electronic components. PA-ALD also enables the deposition of films with tailored properties, such as improved hardness, conductivity, or optical characteristics

Metalorganic vapour-phase epitaxy (MOVPE) uses metal-organic precursors to enable the growth of 2D and 3D monocrystaline semiconductors

Electroplating uses electrical current to reduce dissolved metal ions from an electrolyte to form a coherent metal coating on a material. The cathode, or part to be plated, and plating metal are immersed in an electrolyte containing dissolved metal salts as well as other ions that permit the flow of electricity. When a current is applied to the electrolyte, the free metal ions move through the solution to the cathode and are reduced to metal, creating a thin metal covering the surface. Electroplating is a common process in the jewellery, automotive, and food industries but it is also highly useful in the production of semi-conducting electronics and optics. Different metals can also be used to grow shims for use in hot embossing and nano-imprint lithography, while they can also help to protect surfaces from aggressive etching processes. Nickel electroplating can also be used to cast PDMS in the creation of fluidic cells.

A frequent step in producing a device is to coat a substrate in order to make its surface behave differently in some way. This could be to make it biocompatible, harder, hydrophobic, or to gain any number of other characteristics. Coatings are also widely used as a preparation step for another fabrication process.