which mainly depends on the target voltage;• Positive ions formed in the plasma (∼15 eV), the formation of which mainly depends on the potential fall in front of a substrate at floating potential; Reflected atoms and neutralized ions from the target surface (20–50 eV), the formation of which mainly depends on the background gas and the mass of the sputtered element. As seen in the list above, negative ions (e.g., O− and In− for ITO sputtering) formed at the target surface and accelerated toward the substrate acquire the largest energy, which is determined by the potential between target and plasma potentials. Although the flux of the energetic particles is an important parameter, high-energy negative O− ions are additionally the most abundant species in plasma in case of reactive deposition of oxides. However, energies of other ions/atoms (e.g., Ar+,Ar0, or In0) in the discharge may already be sufficient to dissociate surface bonds or etch soft layers in certain device technologies. In addition, the momentum transfer of high-energy particles from the plasma (Ar, oxygen ions) or sputtered from the target might impinge or even increase the substrate temperature sufficiently to trigger physical (e.g., etching) or thermal degradation of sensitive substrate layers (e.g. thin film metal halide perovskites). This can affect the functional properties of underlying charge transport and passivation layers and photoactive absorbers or emitters, eroding device performance. For instance, due to sputter damage, there may be inevitable interfacial consequences such as pinning of the Fermi level, caused by damage-related interface gap states, resulting in the formation of Schottky-barrier impeding carrier transport. Sputter damage can also impair the doping efficiency of materials and the lifetime of excess charge carriers in photoactive materials; in some cases, depending on its extent, such damage can even lead to a reduced shunt resistance. Etching In the semiconductor industry sputtering is used to etch the target. Sputter etching is chosen in cases where a high degree of etching anisotropy is needed and selectivity is not a concern. One major drawback of this technique is wafer damage and high voltage use. For analysis Another application of sputtering is to etch away the target material. One such example occurs in secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), where the target sample is sputtered at a constant rate. As the target is sputtered, the concentration and identity of sputtered atoms are measured using mass spectrometry. In this way the composition of the