Advances in Solid Films

Dear Colleagues,

Thin films have a great impact on modern technology. They are essential for advanced applications in micro- and optoelectronics, as a variety of coatings for mechanical elements and chemical devices, and so on. The crucial issue is their morphology and stability. Thin films are typically deposited by physical and chemical methods. A thin film can be defined as a thin layer of material, where the thickness varies from several nanometers to a few micrometers. To assure the necessary structural stability, such layers have to be deposited on a substrate typically thicker by several orders of magnitude than the film itself. Moreover, thin films can be composed of a sequence of different layers, as seen in semiconductor heterostructures or optical coatings. Regarding their structure, thin films, like bulk materials, can be amorphous or crystalline. Following the modern tendency of minimizing elements and devices, thin films of nanometer thickness have been produced, leading to the emergence of new and unique properties of such materials. In order to obtain thin films of good quality, a variety of deposition techniques have been developed based on two principal techniques: physical and chemical deposition.

In this Special Issue, modern trends in thin-film technology, including the processing fundamentals and optimization of final product properties, will be highlighted. Relevant characterization techniques will be presented as well.

It is my pleasure to invite you to submit a manuscript for this Special Issue. Full papers, communications, and reviews are welcome.

Prof. Dr. Andrzej Turos
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Materials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.