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Physical vapor deposition (PVD) is a group of vacuum coating techniques used to deposit thin films of various materials onto various surfaces (e.g., of semiconductor wafers) by physical means, as compared to chemical vapor deposition.
PVD coatings are used in a vast array of industries and hundreds if not thousands of applications as diverse as semiconductor devices, aluminized PET film for balloons and snack bags, machine components and coated Cutting tools for metalworking.
Here is a quick introduction to two of the main application areas for PVD coatings.
In the areas of machining and tooling PVD coatings are widely used to increase the life and productivity of production tools saving companies billions of dollars worldwide. The use of PVD coatings saves companies money in three ways.
Firstly PVD coated tools can be run faster reducing cycle times and enabling the production of more components in less time.
Secondly PVD coatings reduce wear and pickup reducing downtime due to tool replacement.
Finally PVD coatings reduce the need for cutting fluid. Cutting fluids cost companies today up to 15% of their total production costs. PVD coatings can be run dry or with very limited amount of fluid.
In the area of machine components low friction coatings reduce energy losses and the need for lubricant. Hard (2000 VHN), wear resistant, low friction coatings can be deposited with a friction coefficient <1/2 that possible using oil lubrication therefore eliminating the need for lubricant. These coatings are used extensively in motor sport.
Leading manufacturers of PVD tools include Applied Materials (~78.1% market share in 2004), Novellus (~6.2% market share in 2004), and Unaxis (~4.8% market share in 2004). Specialty and custom PVD equipment suppliers include Platit, Metaplas Ionon, Angstrom Engineering, Johnsen Ultravac, and Denton Vacuum. Leading consumers of PVD tools include Intel, Samsung, and Taiwan Semiconductor.
Variants of PVD include
See thin-film deposition for a more general discussion of this class of manufacturing technique.
Coatings | Semiconductor device fabrication | Plasma processing | Thin film deposition
"Physical vapor deposition"