A Compact Review on Physical Vapor Deposition Techniques of Thin Films

Abstract

The effectiveness and performance of a material is greatly influenced by its surface properties. It is possible to manipulate and alter these surface characteristics to satisfy the particular characteristics for better results. One way of modifying these properties is by coating that particular surface with thin film. There exist wide number of methodologies for coating a surface or depositing thin films over it. These techniques can be categorized either as physical or chemical depositions methods. An overview of different physical deposition techniques for fabrication of thin film, as per existing literature, has been given in this article. The ‘Evaporation’ and ‘Sputtering’ techniques, being the two major classes of Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD), are discussed briefly.