Sputtering is a process whereby particles are ejected from a solid target material due to bombardment of the target by energetic particles. It only happens when the kinetic energy of the incoming particles is much higher than conventional thermal energies (» 1 eV). This process can lead, during prolonged ion or plasma bombardment of a material, to significant erosion of materials, and can thus be harmful. On the other hand, it is commonly utilized for thin-film deposition, etching and analytical techniques.