How Does The PVD Coating Process Work?

Commercial PVD coatings are simply a product of a metal and a gas excited
under vacuum with heat and electricity to combine in a way they can not under
atmospheric conditions. The metal cathodes inside the chamber on the inner walls
facing the parts and the corresponding plasma field created from gas precisely bled
into the chamber are the main constituents of the process. For example, a Titanium
plate in an Argon (inert gas) and Nitrogen plasma field creates Titanium Nitride or the
gold colored TiN. A Chromium metal plate and Nitrogen plasma field produce CrN.
Mixed alloys (Titanium and Aluminum) plus Nitrogen create TiAlN. The difference
between AlTiN and TiAlN is only the concentration of Ti to Al where the highest one
comes first. AlTiN has more Aluminum while TiAlN has more Titanium.

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