The early life performance of a titanium sputtering target is known to be influenced by the deformed layer generated at the sputter Surface because of the machining operation and also by the level of surface contamination. As against earlier claims made by the other investigators, it is established that the removal of the entire deformed layer is not a requirement for the improvement of early life performance of a titanium Sputtering target. A Sputter treatment of the target Surface for less than 20 min, using a simple air cooled magnetron sputtering chamber prior to the use in a commercial sputtering tool, improves the early life performance of a titanium sputtering target. It has been shown that this sputter treatment reduces the surface contamination level by removing a fraction of the deformed layer from the surface and also transforms the remaining deformed layer into a soft layer resembling the bulk titanium. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.