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.