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<div>The term PVD (physical vapor deposition) defines processes of metal, metal alloys, and chemical compounds deposition in a vacuum by adding thermal and kinetic energy through particle bombardment. The main processes are the following four coating variations:

In all four processes the coating material is transported in its atomic form to the substrate and deposited on it as a thin layer (a few nm to approx. 10 μm)

[[Surface_Coating_Technologies#7.2_Coatings_from_the_Gaseous_Phase_.28Vacuum_Deposition.29|more]]