Depositing thin films of metal (originally silver) on a glass, semiconductor, or other substrate in order to produce an electrically conductive layer. The metal is then etched into the required metallization pattern using a specially designed mask. The technique is widely used in solid-state electronics for the formation of interconnections on integrated circuits or thin-film circuits and to form bonding pads on integrated circuits or discrete components.

There are several processes used for metallizing. The chosen method depends on the substrate and the metal to be deposited. Techniques include vacuum evaporation, sputtering, electroplating, and chemical vapour deposition (CVD), plus variations such as MOCVD. See also multilevel metallization.