Thin Films Technology and Application

Dear Colleagues,

Owing to the numerous advantages over their bulk counterparts, thin films have found numerous applications in a wide variety of fields including photocatalysis, sensing, optics, electronics, opto-electronics, photovoltaics, spintronics, and so on. Techniques for preparing thin films, such as magnetron sputtering, molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), Metal-organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD), pulsed laser deposition (PLD), etc., have progressively advanced, while processes that integrate thin films into devices are actively being developed.

This Special Issue showcases leading cutting-edge research on all aspects of thin-film technology, from thin-film growth to characterization and the many applications of thin films including integration into devices. Both experimental and theoretical works or a combination of both are welcome. High-quality, original research papers and review articles that include but are not limited to the following topics will be considered: 

• Fabrication by wet (chemical, solution processing, etc.) and dry (magnetron sputtering, pulsed laser deposition, etc.) methods;
• Preparation by laser and vapor deposition techniques;
• Thin-film characterization;
• Surface and interface investigation and engineering;
• Numerical modelling of thin films;
• Metal oxides, semiconductors, metals, dielectrics, superconductors, carbon films and nanostructures;
• Conducting and insulating polymer thin films;
• Nanocomposite thin films;
• Nanostructured thin films;
• Applications: photocatalysis, solar cells, gas sensors, electrode materials, radiation sensors, devices, optical, electronic, opto-electronics, etc.

You may submit your manuscript from now until the deadline. Submitted papers should not be under consideration for publication elsewhere.

This Special Issue will be fully open access. The open access model (unlimited and free access by readers) increases publicity and attracts more citations, as indicated by several studies.

For further details on the submission process, please see the instructions for authors.

We look forward to receiving your submissions.

Kind regards,

Dr. Marilou Cadatal Raduban
Dr. Jiří Olejníček
Guest Editors

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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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. Applied Sciences 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 2400 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.

• thin-film fabrication
• thin-film characterization
• thin-film modelling
• thin-film applications
• surfaces and interfaces
• nanocomposite thin films
• nanoparticles
• solar energy conversion
• catalysis
• magnetics and magneto-optics
• electronics, optics, and opto-electronics