2. Deposit parameters

2.1 Precursor materials

The target must contain the chemical elements of the material you wish to deposit in a thin film. In the case of oxides, an oxide target (e.g. CuO target for Cu ₂ O deposition; CuO is more chemically stable than Cu ₂ O) is preferred to a metal target (e.g. Cu) mainly due to the greater difficulty in ablating metals than oxides. This target, for example 1′′ in size and 3 mm thick, can be purchased commercially (a target dedicated to sputtering may be suitable, or even a large substrate purchased commercially), or made yourself.

In the case of oxides, the simplest method is the sintering route: this involves grinding powders of the precursor molecules,...