A
thin film is a layer of material ranging from fractions of a
nanometer (
monolayer) to several
micrometers in thickness. The controlled synthesis of materials as thin films (a process referred to as deposition) is a fundamental step in many applications. A familiar example is the household
mirror, which typically has a thin metal coating on the back of a sheet of glass to form a reflective interface. The process of
silvering was once commonly used to produce mirrors, while more recently the metal layer is deposited using techniques such as
sputtering. Advances in thin film deposition techniques during the 20th century have enabled a wide range of technological breakthroughs in areas such as
electronic semiconductor devices,
LEDs,
optical coatings such
antireflective coatings), hard coatings on cutting tools, and for both energy generation (e.g.
thin film solar cells and storage (
thin-film batteries). It is also being applied to pharmaceuticals, via
thin-film drug delivery.