General view of an unidentified man posed with a Perkin-Elmer Model 4400 Production Sputtering System. Sputtering is a process whereby particles are ejected from a solid target material due to bombardment of the target by energetic particles. Prolonged bombardment of the material can lead to significant erosion of the material, an effect commonly applied industrially for thin-film deposition, etching, and analytical techniques. Perkin-Elmer Sputtering Systems, such as the one depicted here, were widely used in the semiconductor industry, as well as the manufacturing of a wide range of electronic components and optical coatings.