TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - INORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Method: The sputtering target material: is provided in a liquid state from a tundish (4) into at least one gas jet to create a liquid droplet spray; and is formed by spraying the entire sputtering target material directly onto the backing structure having a planar shape, or a cylindrical backing structure to form a rotary sputtering target, or by rapid solidification of the liquid sputtering target material on the backing structure at a rate of greater than or equal to 100 degrees C/second. The sputtering target material droplet spray: is provided onto the cylindrical backing structure that is rotated about its axis and moved parallel to its axis; is provided from the tundish through a slit shaped opening having about a same length as an axial length of the cylindrical backing structure; and provided from the tundish has about the same length as the axial length of the cylindrical backing structure. The cylindrical backing structure rotates about its axis but is not moved along its axis while the sputtering target material droplet spray is provided onto the backing structure. The slit shaped opening has a variable width, so that more sputtering target material is deposited on the backing structure at a location corresponding to a wider opening width than at a location corresponding to a narrower opening width. In the method, the liquid sputtering target material is provided from the tundish in a controlled environment, where the sputtering target material droplet spray and the backing structure are contained within the controlled environment. The method further comprises: heating the backing structure before the sputtering target material droplet spray is provided onto the backing structure; cooling the backing during or after the sputtering target material droplet spray is provided onto the backing structure; adding metallic sodium or a sodium compound to the liquid copper indium gallium sputtering target material; and providing solid particles into the liquid droplet spray, where the solid particles comprise sodium containing particles which are provided into the spray to create a homogenous distribution of sodium containing particles within the target. Preferred Components: The sputtering target material has an overall uniform composition of: 29-41 wt.% of copper, 36-62 wt.% of indium, and 8-25 wt.% of gallium; or 8-15 wt.% of copper, 55-80 wt.% of indium, and 10-25 wt.% of gallium. The target material further comprises a metallic sodium or sodium-containing compound, where the target material contains 0.1-1 wt.% of sodium. In the sputtering target material: 0-10%, preferably 1-5% of primary phase regions have a size of greater than 10 mu m in any random 1 cm by 1 cm area of the sputtering target; and the average primary phase region has a size of 0.5-10 mu m, preferably 1-5 mu m. EXAMPLE - No suitable example given.