This ebook was written to provide a basic foundation of thin film techniques, technologies, and applications. For the purposes of this text, thin films are functionally engineered coatings, consisting of one or more layers of materials, that can provide specific properties to the materials to which they are applied, with a typical final thickness ranging from 5 μm (2 × 10⁻⁴ m) to sub-nanometer (nm) levels.

This work goes into more detail than has been typical in most introductory texts. For example, information on specific pieces of equipment and their usefulness is included. It is also written to bridge the gap between introductory books and more advanced manuals.

Finally, since engineering is a field that requires solving problems to develop understanding, a number of problems are included which represent a variety of typical issues for materials engineers. Some problems are more in-depth than those found in a standard introductory text, and this should provide some new understanding to readers who are already familiar with the topic.