Physical vapor deposition of wear resistant coatings

The three physical vapor deposition (PVD) processes of evaporation, ion plating, and sputtering, are considered, with emphasis on recent developments in these processes for the deposition of refractory hard compounds. The deposition of hard overlay coatings by PVD processes onto carbide and high-speed steel tools and the resulting machining data are presented. Other wear applications are discussed. (author)