Sputtering is a vacuum evaporation process which physically removes portions of a coating material called the target, and deposits a thin, firmly bonded film onto an adjacent surface called the substrate. The process occurs by bombarding the surface of the sputtering target with gaseous ions under high voltage acceleration. As these ions collide with the target, atoms or occasionally entire molecules of the target material are ejected and propelled against the substrate, where they form a very tight bond. The resulting coating is held firmly to the surface by mechanical forces, although, in some cases, and alloy or chemical bond may result.

             * Magnetic materials for data storage tapes. Typical materials are Co-Ni, Tb-Fe and Co-Ni-Cr.

              * Optical materials for lens characteristics. Typical materials are CeO₂, MgO and MgF₂.

              * Lubricant materials for reducing friction. Typical materials are MoS₂, WS₂, and PTFE.

              * Wear-resistant materials to lengthen cutting tool life. Typical materials are TiN, TiC, and ZrB₂.

              * Metallizing materials for microcircuits. Typical materials are Al, W-Ti, Al-Si and Al-Cu.

              * Transparent conducting materials. The most typical material is xLn₂O₃ -ySnO₂.

              * Thin-film resistors. Typical materials are Ni-Cr, Cr-Si and Cr- SiO.

              * Microcircuit mask blanks. The most typical material is Cr.

Additional applications include oxide microcircuit insulation layers, amorphous optical films for integrated optics devices, piezoelectric transducers, photoconductors, luminescent films for display devices, optically addressed memory devices, video discs, solid electrolytes and thin film lasers.