PVD Coating

What is PVD coating?
Physical vapor deposition (PVD) is a type of vacuum deposition and is a general term used to describe any of a variety of methods to deposit thin substrates by the condensation of a vaporized form of the material onto various surfaces (e.g., onto semiconductor wafers). The coating method involves physical processes such as high temperature vacuum evaporation or plasma sputter bombardment rather than involving a chemical reaction at the surface to be coated as in chemical vapor deposition.

How does the PVD process work?
The high-purity, solid coating material (metals such as titanium, chromium and aluminium) is either evaporated by heat or by bombardment with ions (sputtering). At the same time, a reactive gas (e.g. nitrogen or a gas containing carbon) is introduced; it forms a compound with the metal vapour and is deposited on the tools or components as a thin, highly adherent coating. In order to obtain a uniform coating thickness, the parts are rotated at uniform speed about several axes.
The properties of the coating (such as hardness, structure, chemical and temperature resistance, adhesion) can be accurately controlled.