Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD for short) is a method that uses physical methods (such as evaporation, sputtering, etc.) to vaporize the coating material and deposit it on the surface of the substrate to form a film. In addition to traditional vacuum evaporation and sputtering deposition technologies, it also includes various ion beam deposition, ion plating and ion beam-assisted deposition technologies that have been booming in the past 30 years. The deposition types include: vacuum evaporation, sputter plating, ion plating, etc. Although there are various physical vapor deposition technologies, they all must realize the three steps of vapor deposition, namely, vaporization of the plating material (target material), vapor transport, and film deposition. 
The differences between various deposition technologies are mainly reflected in the different energy supply methods in the above three links, the different mechanisms of the same gas phase transformation, the different shapes of gas particles, the different charge energies of gas phase particles, and the energy supply of gas phase particles during transportation. The method and particle shape transformation are different, the reactivity of the plating particles and the reaction gas is different, and the surface conditions of the substrate where the film is deposited are different. Compared with chemical vapor deposition, the main advantages and characteristics are as follows:
I) Coating materials are widely available and easy to obtain: including pure metals, alloys, compounds, conductive or non-conductive, low melting point or high melting point, liquid phase or solid phase, bulk or Powder can be used or processed.
2) Plating material vaporization method: high-temperature evaporation or low-temperature sputtering can be used.
3) The energy of deposited particles is adjustable and the reactivity is high. Through plasma or ion beam intervention, the required deposition particle energy can be obtained for coating and the quality of the film can be improved. Improve reactivity through non-equilibrium processes of plasma.
4) Low-temperature deposition: Due to the high energy and high activity of the deposited particles, low-temperature reaction synthesis and deposition on low-temperature substrates can be achieved without following the traditional thermodynamic laws of high-temperature processes, expanding the applicable scope of the deposition substrate. Various types of films can be deposited: such as metal films, alloy films, compound films, etc.
5) No pollution, conducive to environmental protection.

Physical vapor deposition technology has been widely used in various industries, and many technologies have achieved industrial production. Its coating products involve many practical fields.