Physical Vapor Deposition and Vacuum Metalizing

Industry, under the pressure of the market and regulatory burdens, is forced to improve in order to provide competitively priced, high-quality products demanded by their customers. Companies must find methods that improve quality and reduce cost within regulatory constraints to be successful. An example of the results of these achievements in process technology is the replacement of expensive processes, difficult-to-manage materials and production wastes with modern surface treatments on automotive Iighting reflective surfaces. Automotive lighting has evolved to provide highly sophisticated illumination coupled with low power consumption, which improves driver safety. The demands to achieve this has driven the surface-coatings technology currently employed to manage the high-intensity output from these systems and at the same time eliminate process waste and undesirable materials. These reflective surfaces are created using the physical vapor deposition process. To achieve the high optical reflectance required, aluminum is deposited in a thin film approximately 1,000 angstroms thick.