Physical vapor deposition (PVD), is a method to laminate an object with a thin film. The process includes vaporizing the material and then placing it into a low-pressure environment, thereby the distillation of the vapors get placed and set upon the object and automatically laminates it with a thin film of the substance.
The two main advantages of using physical vapor deposition are:
1. The coating we get is smooth and constant, and is placed over an entire object without any such issues like a certain area has got a thick coating while some areas got a very thin layer.
2. The technique is simple and dirt-free that does not need a high maintenance.
One of the convenient ways of physical vapor deposition is by using an active gases like, nitrogen, methane, oxygen, and with plasma bombarding. However, different methods are required to use the plasma and creating the gases, the main methods make use of ions manipulation, alloying with the use of lasers, spluttering and plate-making.
And the best way to get the PVD accomplished is by using a vacuum method. Where, the vapors are physically channeled via a vacuum environment from the central source of evaporation or sputtering. This process is carried out routinely and automatically as the vapors are focused into the right channel to finally condense on the object that is required to be coated with the fine film.
A number of techniques have been developed to get PVD done, across the world. The techniques are acknowledged and identified on the basis of the source of the gas being used for evaporation or sputtering. Different companies have different preferences of using sputtering methods, some companies prefer cylindrical-magnetron method for sputtering, while others may consider the diode method. Furthermore, the other methods of sputtering can be electron beam method, triode-based, and planar method, etc. All of these techniques can be grouped and classified into three major categories according to the source of emission, condensation method, and vacuum transmission.
The cost of the PVD process is based upon the machines and equipment used to transmit the vapors through the vacuum environment and upon the rate of deposition. However the advanced techniques have decreased the cost of the PVD processes to a significant level, making the use of PVD popular and demanded across the world as,today, we can see how PVD is in a high demand for film-coating.
The most common machine that is used in PVD is substrate heater, this heater and its temperature controller are especially designed and built in order to prepare thin films in a high vacuum deposition system. The design of the substrate heater was based on the idea that simplicity produces tough and strong designs.
