Thin Films: nanoscale coatings with massive impact

Walls are painted for protection and aesthetic reasons. The same applies when we paint or varnish wood. With the advance of science and technology, we can now paint layers that are thousands of times thinner that a hair and of multiple materials from metals to plastics. Despite being much thinner than conventional coatings, such thin films offer an exciting panoply of functionalities. But how such a thin layer, in some cases only several atoms thick, can be “painted”, and what use so little matter can have?

Covering a macroscopic surface evenly with a nanoscale coating is no small feat! Indeed, these tend to be at least 1000 times thinner than the width of a human hair and smaller than most viruses. This imagination-defying task occurs nonetheless at an industrial scale worldwide to produce many of our everyday electronic components. Let’s explore the science and the techniques that were able to bridge the gap between research and mass-production and their future as the ongoing climate crisis and the depletion of raw materials begins to weigh on industrial decisions.