Vacuum Technology and Its
Use in Coating Processes
The word 'vacuum' is indeed a very common term for all and sundry, after all, how many of us are unfamiliar with the product 'vacuum cleaner'? But what does the term actually mean and why is it so important to us? These are the few questions which are bound to intrigue any person with limited knowledge in physics. If you want to know more then just click on cvd supplier.
Vacuum in general refers to a plasma environment where the gaseous pressure is much less than the outer atmospheric pressure. Etymologically it stems from the word Vacuus, which in Latin means 'Vacant' or 'Void'. This condition is striving for in the laboratories for according to the physicists, it is an ideal condition to fetch proper results of the experiments. Since any physical experiment or process carried out in pure vacuum is deemed to be perfect, a physical experiment, hence, is generally attempted to be carried out in pure vacuum. However, due to human error and other atmospheric constraints, this purity remains unachieved and only a partial vacuum can be created in the laboratories. Now a question may arise as to why certain experiments need to adhere to the principle of vacuum technology. There are numerous answers to the specific question with the chief purpose being that it bars the presence of those constituents in the atmosphere which could adversely affect the experiment. The other important reason is that the electrons or other beams used profusely in the experiments cannot exist outside vacuum.
Vacuum Technology has been widely acknowledged as one of the most important innovations in the scientific arena. One of the major uses of the technology was in the invention of the Electric Bulb way back in 1900 by Thomas Edison. However, the newest use of the technology is Vacuum Technology and Coating which is a mechanized process of applying coatings to materials. The Vacuum Coating processes use vacuum technology to create below-normal or sub-atmospheric pressure environment and an atomic or molecular condensable vapor source to deposit thin films of coatings over the proposed metallic beams. The vapor source is generally emitted from two kinds of surfaces: 1) solid or liquid surfaces (physical vapor disposition-PVD) 2) chemical vapor precursor (chemical vapor disposition-CVD). With each passing day, the range of applications of vacuum technology and coating is becoming huge and diverse. From furniture moldings, kitchen cabinet moldings and architectural moldings for picture frames, flooring and building products, the innovation is grasping various markets alike and needless to say, attracting lots of consumers' day by day.
Like every invention and development, vacuum coating too has its set of pros and cons. Unlike vacuum deposition, it has a very high rate of transfer and a very high-speed coating while incurring a very low application cost and minimal energy consumption. The application also spreads uniformly throughout the surface area of the material. However, vacuum technology and coating offers a very limited range of matching templates for every profile and is hence difficult to change colors. It suffers from a very limited range of coating choices. But in spite of the disadvantages, vacuum coated materials are in high demand right now and with the aggressive innovations and inventions in the same arena, it is surely to overcome the disadvantages in the recent future.