Thin Film Material Calculator
Estimate the theoretical mass of a thin film and explore materials for your deposition process.
Calculate theoretical film mass for one layer or a multilayer stack. Enter each layer's material, thickness and coated area, then organize the results for a material inquiry.
Step 1 Define your film
Material and density
Bulk density can differ from actual thin film density. Override with a suitable measured or justified value. Unknown alloy density is not estimated from composition. Tool support does not imply a supply commitment.
Coated area
Use actual coated area, not uncoated substrate area. Circle / Wafer assumes the entire circular face is coated, excluding edges and sidewalls. Two sides assumes identical area and thickness on both faces. For partial coatings, complex shapes or different faces, use Enter Area with the combined coated area of all faces on one substrate. No side multiplier is applied in that mode.
Film thickness
Assumes uniform thickness over every entered coated surface.
Estimate Source Material Requirement
Overall material utilization: The fraction of source material consumed that ends up in the intended film on your substrates.
Determine utilization from your equipment and process; no general evaporation or sputtering default is assumed. It may account for material deposited elsewhere. Use additional allowance only for needs not already included in utilization, to avoid counting the same loss twice.
Source estimates are not guaranteed consumption or automatic purchase advice. Evaporation loading may also depend on minimum crucible charge, residual material and process requirements.
Step 2 Results
- Total coated area
- Film volume
- Theoretical film mass
- Estimated source material
- Planning quantity, including additional allowance
User-defined planning estimates, not an actual requested supply quantity.
Results do not predict actual consumption, sputtering target lifetime or dimensions, deposition rate, or equipment power.
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Materials for Your Process
Your parameters and estimates are added as supporting information. Enter your actual requested supply quantity in the inquiry form; estimates are never treated as an order quantity.
Estimate deposited mass layer by layer. Actual thin-film density and process losses depend on your material and deposition conditions.
Common substrate geometry
Different layers can coat different areas. In Enter Area mode, include all coated faces on one substrate; no extra side multiplier is applied.
Circle covers only its circular face, not edges or sidewalls. Two geometric faces assume the same coated area and thickness. Override the coated geometry and count separately for a patterned layer.
Illustrative calculation; not a recommended deposition recipe. This interface supports 1–20 layers.
Reference bulk density is a starting value, not a measured film property. Enter a suitable density for your film when available.
Multilayer results
This source estimate assumes the consumed source and deposited material have the same mass basis. Reactive or multi-source deposition needs a separate material-balance calculation.
Overall material utilization is the fraction of source material consumed that ends up in the intended film on your substrates. Enter your own process value. Do not count the same loss again in the additional allowance.
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Review the summary before adding it to your inquiry. Enter the quantity and supplied form you actually want to purchase.
Review the supporting calculation
Materials for Your Process
How film mass is calculated
Convert dimensions and thickness to cm, area to cm², and density to g/cm³ before calculation.
Total coated areaArea per substrate × substrate count × coated sides. Enter Area already includes all coated faces per substrate, so its side multiplier is 1.
Film volume and massFilm volume (cm³) = total coated area (cm²) × thickness (cm). Theoretical film mass (g) = volume × density (g/cm³).
Estimated source materialTheoretical film mass ÷ (overall material utilization / 100).
Planning quantityEstimated source material × (1 + additional planning allowance / 100).
Rectangle area is length × width; circular area is π × (diameter / 2)². 1 inch = 2.54 cm; 1 µm = 1,000 nm = 10,000 Å. The model assumes uniform thickness and your specified density. It excludes uncoated regions unless you explicitly include them.
Multilayer calculation model
For each layer i: Aᵢ = coated area per substrate (cm²) × substrate count × applicable side multiplier. mᵢ (g) = Aᵢ × thicknessᵢ (nm) × 10⁻⁷ × densityᵢ (g/cm³). Enter Area already includes all coated faces and always uses side multiplier 1.
Calculate source estimateᵢ = mᵢ ÷ (utilizationᵢ / 100) and planning estimateᵢ = source estimateᵢ × (1 + allowanceᵢ / 100) separately for each eligible layer before summing the same material. Missing or unsupported source estimates are explicitly excluded. Custom labels do not establish equivalent compositions. Different procurement requirements stay separate.
Illustrative example: 100 cm², one substrate, Ti 5 nm at 4.540 g/cm³ gives 0.227 mg; Au 100 nm at 19.32 g/cm³ gives 19.32 mg. Total deposited film mass is 19.547 mg. This is not a recommended deposition recipe. Explicitly entering 10% Au utilization and 10% allowance gives 0.1932 g source estimate and 0.21252 g planning estimate; these are not default process values or purchase quantities.
Density data and reference conditions
Reference: NIST SRD 126, Table 1: material constants for elemental media. Data content last updated July 2004; checked October 8, 2026. These are reference elemental densities for bulk-material planning. NIST notes that some densities are nominal; Table 1 does not specify a measurement temperature. They are not certified deposited-film densities. Use an appropriate density for your phase, temperature and process, particularly for porous or non-bulk films.
| Material | Symbol | Density |
|---|---|---|
| Aluminum | Al | 2.699 |
| Copper | Cu | 8.960 |
| Titanium | Ti | 4.540 |
| Chromium | Cr | 7.180 |
| Nickel | Ni | 8.902 |
| Gold | Au | 19.32 |
| Silver | Ag | 10.50 |
| Platinum | Pt | 21.45 |
| Tungsten | W | 19.30 |
| Molybdenum | Mo | 10.22 |
Common questions
Can I use a custom material or alloy?
Yes. Select Custom Material, name the material and supply a justified density. We do not estimate unknown alloy density by combining elemental densities. The Alloy Composition Calculator can help define atomic or weight percentages, but it does not predict density.
How do I enter partial, masked or different coatings on each face?
Use Enter Area for the combined actual coated area of all faces on one substrate. Coated sides is hidden in this mode so the entered area is not doubled. If thickness or density differs between regions, calculate those regions separately and combine their masses.
How much evaporation material should I order?
Film mass alone cannot answer that. Optional utilization and allowance values give a user-defined planning estimate. Actual loading can depend on equipment, minimum crucible charge, remaining material and the specific process. Confirm your requested form and quantity separately during quotation.
Does this calculate sputtering target life or deposition settings?
No. This geometric mass model does not determine target life, target dimensions, deposition rate, equipment power or achievable film properties.