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Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD)

Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is a technique to coat substrates with thin films. The coating is hereby deposited out of the gas phase by chemical reactions.

Functional principle

Classical CVD

The substrate is heated while a gas is streaming over its surface. Due to the temperature a chemical reaction of the gas molecules takes place at the surface. With the time more and more molecules are adsorbed forming a coating.

CVD can be performed in various conditions (under atmospheric pressure, in vacuum etc.).
Events in a CVD
Events in a CVD; image source
Plasma-enhanced CVD (PECVD)

Instead of temperature the reaction energy is supplied by plasma. A Plasma contains ions that can be accelerated electrically electricallyonto the substrate. The advantages compared to the classical CVD are:
  • The process temperature is low enough to coat also temperature-sensitive plastics
  • Higher deposition rates are possible
  • The ions can be accelerated so strong that they form a hard coating. For example in a hydrocarbon plasma a diamond-like carbon (DLC) coating can be deposited.
  • On plastics the coatings are chemically bound to the surface. They therefore show the optimal adhesion.
Scheme of the CVD of DLC
Scheme of the CVD of DLC

Possible coatings

Plasma Electronic offers the following PECVD coatings:
We develop all PECVD processes according to your special needs. Contact us!
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