Sputter deposition is a method of depositing thin films by sputtering that involves eroding material from a "target" source onto a "substrate", e.g. a silicon wafer, solar cell, optical component, or many other possibilities. Resputtering, in contrast, involves re-emission of the deposited material, e.g. SiO during the deposition also by ion bombardment.
Sputtered atoms are ejected into the gas phase but are not in their thermodynamic equilibrium state, and tend to deposit on all surfaces in the vacuum chamber. A substrate (such as a wafer) placed in the chamber will be coated with a thin film. Sputtering deposition usually uses an argon plasma because argon, a noble gas, will not react with the target material.