The study of thin metal films, used as passive components in microelectronic circuitry, led to the development of a multiple cathode sputtering system. The major advantage of a sputtering system is that highly refractory materials can be sputtered quite readily, but they cannot be evaporated without elaborate equipment. Thus, a sputtering system permits studies of thin metal films to be extended from those with low melting points into the range of metals with high melting points. This paper describes a versatile sputtering system which incorporates several cathodes and a rotating anode, making it possible to sputter one metal after another without breaking the vacuum and to deposit films of various thicknesses under identical conditions.