Physical vapor deposition (PVD) is a technique 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. Thin films are material layers of about 1 µm thickness. ... A semiconductor is a solid whose electrical conductivity can be controlled over a wide range, either permanently or dynamically. ... An etched silicon wafer In microelectronics, a wafer is a thin slice of semiconducting material, such as a silicon crystal, upon which microcircuits are constructed by doping (for example, diffusion or ion implantation), etching, and deposition of various materials. ... DC plasma (violet) enhances the growth of carbon nanotubes in this laboratory-scale PECVD apparatus. ...

PVD is used in the manufacture of items including semiconductor devices, aluminized PET film for balloons and snack bags, and coated cutting tools for metalworking. Nasas Glenn Research Center clean room. ... General Name, Symbol, Number aluminium, Al, 13 Chemical series poor metals Group, Period, Block 13, 3, p Appearance silvery Atomic mass 26. ... Biaxially-oriented polyethylene terephthalate (boPET) polyester film is used for its high tensile strength, chemical and dimensional stability, transparency, gas and aroma barrier properties and electrical insulation. ...

Leading manufacturers of PVD tools include Applied Materials (~78.1% market share in 2004), Novellus Systems (~6.2% market share in 2004), and Oerlikon Balzers coatings (~4.8% market share in 2004). Specialty and custom PVD equipment suppliers include Mustang Vacuum Systems (http://www.mustangvac.com), Platit, Metaplas Ionon, Angstrom Engineering, Johnsen Ultravac, Plasma Quest Limited, tectra and Denton Vacuum. Besides PVD tools for fabrication special smaller tools mainly for scientific purposes have been developed. They mainly serve the purpose of extreme thin films like atomic layers and are used mostly for small substrates. A good example are mini e-beam evaporators which can deposit monolayers of virtually all materials with melting points up to 3.500°C. Applied Materials, Inc. ... Novellus Systems develops, manufactures, sells, and services semiconductor equipment used in the fabrication of integrated circuits. ... Platit AG is a Swiss company that manufactures and markets coating equipment for the cutting tool industry. ... Angstrom Engineering Inc. ...

Leading consumers of PVD tools for fabrication include Intel, Samsung, and Taiwan Semiconductor.^{[citation needed]} Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC, SEHK: 4335), founded in 1968 as Integrated Electronics Corporation, is an American multinational corporation that is best known for designing and manufacturing microprocessors and specialized integrated circuits. ... Samsung Group is one of the largest South Korean business groupings. ... Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Limited (Traditional Chinese: 台灣積體電路製造股份有限公司, abbrev. ...

Variants of PVD include

• Evaporative deposition
• Electron Beam Physical Vapor Deposition
• Sputtering
• Pulsed laser deposition
• High velocity oxygen fuel

See thin-film deposition for a more general discussion of this class of manufacturing technique. Thin-film deposition is any technique for depositing a thin film of material onto a substrate or onto previously deposited layers. ... Electron Beam Physical Vapor Deposition or EBPVD is a form of physical vapor deposition in which a target anode is bombarded with an electron beam given off by a charged tungsten filament under high vacuum. ... Sputtering is a physical process whereby atoms in a solid target material are ejected into the gas phase due to bombardment of the material by energetic ions. ... Pulsed laser deposition is a thin film deposition technique. ... High Velocity Oxygen Fuel (HVOF) is a technique to deposit thin films on a material, and can be used to deposit layers as thick as 12mm (1/2). Among others, it is used to deposit a wear and corrosion resistant ceramic coating on a light weight material. ... Thin-film deposition is any technique for depositing a thin film of material onto a substrate or onto previously deposited layers. ...

External links

• mini electron beam evaporator for scientific thin film application
• Oerlikon Balzers Coatingis the world's leading PVD coating company offering its coating services in close to 80 locations around the globe.