Decorative coatings
Since the mid 1990s PVD coatings have been established as the
high quality surface finish for watches, sanitary and door hardware with many manufacturers marketing coated products with long time guarantees on their appearance.
high quality surface finish for watches, sanitary and door hardware with many manufacturers marketing coated products with long time guarantees on their appearance.
Cutting tools
The introduction of PVD thin film coatings for cutting tools in the metal cutting industry is one of the main success stories in the industrial application of modern coating technology over the last 30 years.
Low friction coatings
As environmental restrictions on the use of lubricants grow tighter, and costs associated with disposal increase, there is a growing demand for low friction thin film coatings that allow contacting surfaces to rub against one another with reduced friction and wear.
Coating machines
In most business sectors it is now economical for companies to buy their own turn key systems and coat in-house. The unit cost for coating is much cheaper and lead times are negligible.
PVD Coatings
Welcome to the website devoted to PVD Coatings, Physical Vapour Deposition a group of vacuum coating techniques that are used to deposit thin film coatings that enhance the properties and performance of tools and machine components. This is physical vapor deposition explained, PVD coatings deposited using vacuum coating machines are used in a vast array of industries and hundreds if not thousands of applications as diverse as “self-cleaning” windows, jewelry, medical implants, PVD Chrome wheels, cutting tools, decorative fittings PVD Coating watches and Formula 1 racing parts. You can find some PVD Coating Companies in our PVD directory section that sell physical vapor deposition equipment.
What is a PVD coating or PVD finish?
PVD coatings are hard thin film coatings deposited from a physical source as opposed to a chemical one. They are deposited in a vacuum chamber and are usually carbides, nitrides, borides and silicides of the IVth, Vth and VIth groups of the periodic table.
PVD Coating Theory
Magnetron Sputtering
Magnetron sputtering is an extremely flexible coating technique that can be used to coat virtually any material. Sputtering is basically the removal of atomised material from a solid by energetic bombardment of its surface layers by ions or neutral particles. Sputtering is an extremely flexible coating technique that can be used to coat virtually any material.
Magnetron Sputtering Target
Here’s an example of a magnetron sputtering target in action. You can see the blue glow discharge or plasma formed by ionising a neutral gas such as argon.
TiN Coating
TiN was the first PVD coating to be used successfully to machine steel in industry and is still the most recognised due its attractive bright gold colour. Read more >
TiAlN Coating
TiAlN has superseded TiN in many applications. The colour is of the TiAlN coating can change and is dependent on the ratio between Ti:Al ratio in the coating and can range from black to bronze. TiAlN offers superior performance for a range of metal machining and fabrication applications. Read more >
CrN Coating
The CrN PVD coating has a metallic silver-like colour and is a a tough thin film coating with high hardness, good oxidation resistance, and a low coefficient of friction for a ceramic coating making it ideal for metal and plastic forming applications. Read more >