A contact layer is used, for example, as a liner for the fabrication of electrical contacts in contact holes. The contact layer is fabricated in two steps, in a first step a first contact layer is deposited, in which only a small proportion of the particles to be sputtered is ionized. In a second sputtering step, a second contact layer is sputtered, in the course of whose fabrication a larger proportion of the particles to be sputtered is ionized. The procedure ensures that the first contact layer is disposed as a protective layer on the substrate by gentle sputtering before the second contact layer is sputtered.