Metal and Thin Film Mechanics
Metal and Thin Film Mechanics is a research topic within Mechanics of Materials. Science Explorer counts 93k research works in it since 1950. 17.2% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.
This cluster of papers focuses on the mechanical properties, fabrication techniques, and performance evaluation of thin film coatings, particularly in the context of nanoindentation, sputtering, and tribological behavior. It covers topics such as hardness, elastic modulus, nanocomposites, and the use of advanced characterization techniques like X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.
- Nanoindentation
- Thin Films
- Coatings
- Mechanical Properties
- Sputtering
- Hardness
- Elastic Modulus
- Nanocomposites
- Tribological Behavior
- X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy
- Research works
- 93k fractional, since 1950
- In the world top 10%
- 16k per year above
- Top-10% rate
- 17.2% share of its works in the world top 10%
- Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
- +7% the tick is no change
Which countries lead Metal and Thin Film Mechanics research?
By volume, China and India publish the most (5k and 922 works in 2022–2025).
By volume, 2022–2025
- 1 China 5k works
- 2 India 922 works
- 3 United States 875 works
- 4 Russia 809 works
- 5 Japan 544 works
- 6 Germany 454 works
- 7 South Korea 293 works
- 8 France 270 works
- 9 Türkiye 249 works
- 10 Poland 233 works
How concentrated that is
The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.
Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.
Which institutions lead Metal and Thin Film Mechanics research?
By volume in 2022–2025, Chinese Academy of Sciences publishes the most Metal and Thin Film Mechanics research, followed by Harbin Institute of Technology and Central South University.
By volume, 2022–2025
- 1 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 161 works
- 2 Harbin Institute of TechnologyChina 123 works
- 3 Central South UniversityChina 108 works
- 4 Xi'an Jiaotong UniversityChina 96 works
- 5 Northwestern Polytechnical UniversityChina 93 works
- 6 University of Science and Technology BeijingChina 91 works
- 7 Southwest Jiaotong UniversityChina 73 works
- 8 Northeastern UniversityChina 67 works
- 9 Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityChina 64 works
- 10 Chongqing UniversityChina 62 works
Who are the leading researchers in Metal and Thin Film Mechanics?
The most-cited researchers publishing on Metal and Thin Film Mechanics include Kenji Watanabe, Takashi Taniguchi and Wei Huang.
- 1 Kenji Watanabe Japan 6.4k citations
- 2 Takashi Taniguchi Japan 6.2k citations
- 3 Wei Huang China 5.5k citations
- 4 W. C. Oliver United States 5.3k citations
- 5 George M. Pharr United States 5.1k citations
- 6 Yury Gogotsi United States 5.1k citations
- 7 Akihisa Inoue Japan 4.7k citations
Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.
Where is Metal and Thin Film Mechanics research done?
The largest centres of Metal and Thin Film Mechanics research in 2022–2025 are Beijing (China), Xi'an (China), Moscow (Russia) and Shanghai (China). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Tomsk, Leoben and Tomsk.
Largest cities, 2022–2025
Where it is the local speciality
- TomskRU · 36.5 works64×
- LeobenAT · 29.8 works22×
- TomskRU · 119.7 works19×
Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Metal and Thin Film Mechanics than the world average.
Where is the best place to study Metal and Thin Film Mechanics?
Among universities, judged by research, Bu-Ali Sina University, National Institute of Technology Srinagar and University of Science and Technology Beijing score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.
One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.
| # | University | Score | Top 10% | Specialisation | Works | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bu-Ali Sina UniversityIran | 66.7 | 33.0% | 11.3× | 13 | +274.1% |
| 2 | National Institute of Technology SrinagarIndia | 59.6 | 32.4% | 15.7× | 21 | — |
| 3 | University of Science and Technology BeijingChina | 58.1 | 21.7% | 9.5× | 91 | -7.4% |
| 4 | Northwestern Polytechnical UniversityChina | 57.8 | 31.6% | 6.7× | 93 | -0.1% |
| 5 | Anhui University of TechnologyChina | 56.4 | 28.1% | 11.6× | 26 | +15.8% |
| 6 | Northeastern UniversityChina | 55.1 | 25.4% | 6.2× | 67 | +83.8% |
| 7 | Yantai UniversityChina | 53.0 | 27.5% | 8.5× | 22 | +52.7% |
| 8 | National Research Tomsk State UniversityRussia | 52.7 | 1.4% | 15.0× | 35 | +218.2% |
| 9 | Southwest Jiaotong UniversityChina | 51.9 | 20.2% | 7.8× | 73 | +9.9% |
| 10 | Xi'an Technological UniversityChina | 51.4 | 32.2% | 9.3× | 16 | -21.5% |
Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.
Is Metal and Thin Film Mechanics research growing?
Output in 2018–2022 was 7% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2024. The fastest-growing topics are Metal and Thin Film Mechanics.
The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.
Which topics inside it are moving
Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.