Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) is the most widely used technology for depositing materials as a thin film onto a host substrate.  From metals, to semiconductor materials, to the most complicated optical film stacks, PVD is the most common deposition method. PVD is used in the manufacture of a wide range of goods, including semiconductor devices, aluminized PET film for balloons and snack bags, optical coatings and filters, coated cutting tools for metalworking and wear resistance, and highly reflective films for decorative displays.

PVD tools have also been developed for the fabrication of extremely thin films, i.e. films only nanometers in thickness. PVD deposition tools can deposit monolayers of virtually any material, including materials with melting points up to 3500 °C. There are variants of the PVD process whereby the method for generating the physical vapor is different, but all processes take place in a vacuum chamber of some type. PVD, like other deposition processes, benefits from in situ process monitoring.

The PVD coating method involves a purely physical process. The three most common processes are 1) plasma sputtering, 2) pulsed laser deposition, and 3) e-beam evaporation. The film materials are transferred via various methods from some starting ‘target’ with subsequent condensation onto the host substrate.