Physical vapor deposition

Abstract

Physical vapor deposition (PVD) thin film technology covers a rather broad range of deposition techniques. The general feature that describes PVD is that films are deposited atomically by means of fluxes of individual neutral or ionic species. This differentiates them from chemical vapor deposition (CVD), in which films are precipitated from the gas phase by a chemical reaction, and also from electrodeposition, in which atoms or ions in an aqueous solution are plated onto a surface.