PVD
PHYSICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION
SPUTTERING
PVD technology covers a family of vacuum deposition processes, which include in particular evaporation, sputtering and cathodic arc.
The PVD technology used by Positive Coating is sputtering.
TO MICRON LEVEL
Sputtering is used to coat items made from various materials with a decorative and/or functional colored layer, approximately one micron thick. This type of treatment is used to obtain unalterable colorations while conserving surface finishes and decorations (polished, satin-finished, micro-blasted, Côtes de Genève, circular graining, etc.).
ADVANTAGES OF PVD TECHNOLOGY:
- EXCELLENT RESULTS IN WATCHMAKING TESTS (climate resistance, UV, etc.)
- VARIETIES OF MATERIALS TREATED (copper & titanium alloys, gold, steels and stainless steel, ceramics, plastics, etc.)
- COMPROMISE BETWEEN DUCTILITY AND HARDNESS
- HOMOGENEITY AND REPEATABILITY OF COLOR AND THICKNESS (from 0.2 to 2 microns)
- INTRINSIC COLORS (black, shades of grey, brown, blue, etc.)
- PROCESS POSSIBLE AT LOW TEMPERATURE
- RESPECTING FINISHES
- REVERSIBLE PROCESS
PVD COAT
PVD treatment consists in coating the parts in a pre-evacuated sealed chamber. It makes use of the physical principle of bombarding a target with plasma. Atoms emitted from the target are projected onto the parts and the coating is created by stacking effect. The chemically neutral environment of the enclosure allows to obtain highly pure and regular coatings.
HOW TO DEPOSIT VACUUM COATINGS?
- After introducing a gas, a plasma is created.
- The positively charged ions are accelerated by an electric field
- The ions strike the source with sufficient energy to eject atoms
- These atoms condense on surfaces placed in proximity, to form the coating
In most cases, the deposition temperature is between 50°C and 250°C. Hence this vacuum deposition process works at moderate temperature, in luminescent plasma, in a gas maintained at low pressure.
COATINGS SUITABLE
FOR VARIOUS METALS AND CERAMICS
STAINLESS STEEL
TITANIUM ALLOYS
COPPER ALLOYS
GOLD ALLOYS
HEAVY METAL (TUNGSTEN)
ZIRCONIA
ALUMINA
SAPPHIRE
GLASS