Within a period of a few decades, the field of materials science and engineering has emerged as a focal point for developments in virtually all areas of engineering and applied science. The study of thin film materials has been one of the unifying themes in the development of the field during this period. As understood here, the area encompasses films bonded to relatively thick substrates, multilayer materials, patterned films on substrates and free-standing films. Significant advances in methods for synthesizing and processing these materials for ever more specific purposes, as well as in instrumentation for characterizing materials at ever diminishing size scales, have been key to modern engineering progress.

At the dawn of the 21st century, the United States National Academy of Engineering reported the outcome of a project intended to identify the twenty most significant engineering achievements of the preceding century. It is evident from the list compiled that achievements of the second half of the twentieth century – electronics, computers, health technologies, laser and fiber optics, for example – were all based on the creative and efficient exploitation of materials; thin film materials represent a major component of this advance in materials technology. In fact, the impact of advances in the specialized uses of materials was so pervasive in the achievements being recognized by the Academy that the development of high-performance materials itself was included as one of the most significant achievements.