What is Physical Vapour Deposition?

• A. Coating an object with a thin film of something via evaporation and condensation
• B. Etching a surface to remove material
• C. Applying a thick paint layer by brush
• D. Sputtering a surface with ions

Answer: (A)

Physical Vapour Deposition is about forming a thin, uniform film on a surface by transferring material from a source as a vapor and letting it condense on the workpiece. In practice this often means evaporating the coating material in a vacuum so its vapor travels to the substrate and deposits as a thin film. This matches the idea of coating an object with a thin film via evaporation and condensation.

The other options describe different processes: removing material (etching), applying a thick paint by brush (not a vapor-deposited film), or describe sputtering as the action of bombarding a surface with ions. While sputtering is a way to achieve PVD, the fundamental description of Physical Vapour Deposition is the vapor-to-film coating via evaporation and condensation.