The pulsed magnetron sputtering (PMS) process has
transformed the production of highly insulating "lms,
particularly oxides such as alumina. Oxide coatings can
be produced by the reactive magnetron sputtering of
a metallic target in a controlled oxygen atmosphere.
They can also be produced by the direct RF (radio
frequency; usually 13.56 MHz) sputtering of an oxide
target. However, both of these processes are problematic.
RF sputtering can produce high-quality "lms, but deposition
rates are very low (typically in the lm/h range).
Also, RF sputtering systems are complex and di$cult to
scale up for commercial applications.