A compound thin film is obtained with a high deposition rate and consistent film quality in reactive sputtering. A thin film is formed by performing voltage monitoring control and gas flow rate monitoring control. The voltage monitoring control is control in which a gas flow rate is adjusted such that the value of a target voltage is brought closer to the value of a desired voltage by monitoring the target voltage in a first cycle time. The gas flow rate monitoring control is control in which the desired voltage for the target voltage is changed such that the value of the gas flow rate is brought closer to the value of a desired gas flow rate by monitoring the gas flow rate in a second cycle time.

ZnO sputtering is performed while a rolling body is housed in a basket made of a metal wire and is rotated. By setting a ratio of a mesh size of the basket to a diameter of the rolling body in a range of 40 to 95%, fine and uniform ZnO coating can be formed on a surface of the rolling body. By using the rolling body with ZnO coating prepared in this manner in a bearing which is rotated at high speed in a high-load state, a friction coefficient can significantly be lowered in comparison with a case of no coating.

A film-forming method includes a sputtering step of forming a silicon nitride film or a silicon oxynitride film on a surface of a substrate by a sputtering method. The sputtering step is performed using a silicon-containing target, and using at least a nitrogen gas. The sputtering step is performed in an atmosphere having a water vapor partial pressure of about 1.510.sup.3 Pa or less. A central region of the silicon nitride film or the silicon oxynitride film formed in the sputtering step has a hydrogen content of about 2 atom % or more.

A germanium-containing aluminum nitride piezoelectric film and a method for manufacturing an aluminum nitride piezoelectric film in which a germanium-containing aluminum nitride piezoelectric film is grown on a substrate by sputtering.

A coated article includes a substrate having a major surface, and an optical coating disposed on the major surface of the substrate. At least a portion of the optical coating includes a residual compressive stress of about 50 MPa or more. The coated article has strain-to-failure of about 0.5% or more as measured by a Ring-on-Ring Tensile Testing Procedure. The coated article has an average photopic transmission of about 80% or greater.

A method of depositing a layer on a piece by sputter deposition, a coater and a processor for controlling a coater in accordance with the method are provided. The method includes providing deposition of metallic and reactive species simultaneously on a piece for forming a layer under predetermined sputtering conditions, thereby providing a deposited layer on the piece comprising a metal compound. The deposited layer is subsequently irradiated and the optical transmittance is measured. A measured parameter related to the measured radiation is compared with one stored value of that parameter. The sputtering conditions are thereby adapted as a result of the comparison.

A strain resistance film containing a composition represented by Cr.sub.100-x-y-zAl.sub.xN.sub.yO.sub.z, satisfying 5?x?50, 0.1?y?20, 0.1?z?17, and y+z?25.

The anti-reflection film includes an anti-reflection layer composed of multilayer thin-films having different refractive indexes on one principal surface of a transparent film substrate. The moisture permeability of the anti-reflection film is 15 to 1000 g/m.sup.2.Math.24 h. The surface of the anti-reflection layer has an indentation elastic modulus of 20 to 100 GPa, and an arithmetic mean roughness Ra of 3 nm or less. The arithmetic mean roughness Ra of the surface of the anti-reflection layer is preferably 1.5 nm or less. The thin-films constituting the anti-reflection layer can be deposited by, for example, a sputtering method.

Amorphous tungsten nitride compounds, products, and methods of manufacture, as well as devices incorporating the same are disclosed herein. An example electro-mechanical device includes a first gate, a first drain, and a source having a completely amorphous metal tungsten nitride film cantilever. The cantilever extends from an anchor of the source transversely to the first gate and the first drain.

Provided are a thin film formation apparatus, a sputtering cathode, and a method of forming thin film, capable of forming a multilayer optical film at a high film deposition rate on a large-sized substrate. The thin film formation apparatus forms a thin film of a metal compound on a substrate in a vacuum chamber by sputtering. The vacuum chamber is provided in its inside with targets composed of metal or a conductive metal compound, and an active species source for generating an active species of a reactive gas. The active species source is provided with gas sources for supplying the reactive gas, and an energy source for supplying energy into the vacuum chamber to excite the reactive gas to a plasma state. The energy source is provided between itself and the vacuum chamber with a dielectric window for supplying the energy into the vacuum chamber.