The electronics industry relies on cutting-edge technology to provide scientific and practical advances, making electronics faster, more reliable, and more affordable to produce. The advent of thin-film physical vapour deposition has revolutionised the field, allowing manufacturers to combine the physical, mechanical, chemical, and optical properties of different materials for industry-leading results.
Read on as we discuss what types of thin films are common in electronics, as well as the common manufacturing processes behind them.
What Are Thin Films, and Which Kinds Are Common in Electronics?
Thin films are very thin coatings of material on a particular substrate. These films can be a single compound covering the substrate in an atomic layer, or they can be multiple layers of varying target materials to provide innovative functions and confer several unique properties.
What makes thin films so useful in electronics is that they can change the properties of the substrate to suit a specific need. For instance, one of the most common thin-film applications is a protective coating on flat-screen displays that makes them stronger and more resistant to wear and tear. Without this coating, manufacturers would have to use larger, thicker panels to get the same result.
Electronics applications take advantage of several types of thin films, including:
- Thin-film voltaics to produce better photovoltaic cells, including solid-state lithium battery packs
- Semiconductor fabrication that deposits thin-film materials on silicon wafers and uses printed electronics processes for high-volume circuit production
- Magnetic thin film in recording devices and magnetic sensors
- Optical coatings to alter how a material interacts with light, such as anti-glare coatings on flexible electronics such as smartphone screens or anticorrosive coatings on wearables
The Manufacturing of Thin Films for Computer Hardware
The most common method of producing a thin film coating is physical vapour deposition. This process vaporises the target material using one of several different techniques and then deposits this vapour on the target substrate evenly and controllably. The main benefit of PVD is that almost any material can act as the target material, including compounds such as silicon, ceramics, and metals.
Thin-film physical vapour deposition methods differ mostly in how they vaporise the target material. The most common method is thermal evaporation, which uses heat and vacuum pressure to produce the target vapour. Other methods involve using electron beams to produce higher and more even heat, which allows for the vapourisation of specific materials.
The other common method is “sputtering,” in which ionised gases knock atoms off the target material into a plasma cloud then coats the target substrate.
The Manufacturing of Thin Films for Computer Hardware
Various factors play a role in which method a thin film deposition company will use, including
- Target material
- Substrate
- Quality requirements
- Cost requirements
- Volume
Final Thoughts
Understanding the types of thin films and their manufacturing is invaluable in thin-film electronics and computer hardware.
Thin-film electronics applications are ubiquitous in today’s fast-moving hardware and electronics devices. Due to their versatility and consistent results, they form an integral part of many components, including circuits, screens, semiconductors, and batteries.
As electronics continue to develop, thin-film technology will likely be a major player in further technological advancements.
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