AbstractReactive sputter deposition is a widely used glow discharge process for growing high melting point coatings near room temperature, and metastable and multiphase structures not attainable in bulk material grown under conditions of thermodynamic equilibrium. It is therefore ideally suited for growing refractory metal oxide coatings. In this study,‘phase maps’are constructed for the sputter deposition of the refractory metal oxides of Nb, Y, and Zr. These diagrams interrelate process parameters, the growth environment, and metallurgical phase in the growth regime of near room substrate temperature, low surface diffusion, and sticking coefficient of unity. Phase boundaries are discussed in terms of: (i) the fractional flux of metal atoms and metal oxide molecules to the substrate; (ii) a complete oxide layer at the metal target surface; (iii) oxygen species in the plasma available for reaction at the substrate.MST/1693