Sol-Gel Deposition Processes of Thin Ceramic Films

The development of inorganic functional thin films is driven by applications in electronics, solar technology, optics and other high-tech fields. A wide range of film compositions can be manufactured by gas phase or liquid phase deposition methods. Due to the high apparative costs of gas phase methods, the use of the sol-gel processing offers advantages by sufficiently inexpensive film technologies. Additionally, purity and stability of the precursors, homogeneity of mixed precursors, comparably low processing temperatures to transfer gel films into pure inorganic films can be used to generate high-performance thin films.