Physical vapor deposition definition

In order to find the domain of LCVD, it is necessary to compare various vacuum deposition processes chemical vapor deposition (CVD), physical vapor deposition (PVD), plasma chemical vapor deposition (PCVD), plasma-assisted CVD (PACVD), plasma-enhanced CVD (PECVD), and plasma polymerization (PP). All of these terms refer to methods or processes that yield the deposition of materials in a thin-film form in vacuum. There is no clear definition for these terms that can be used to separate processes that are represented by these terminologies. All involve the starting material in vapor phase and the product in the solid state. 

This section gives an overview of the sort of chemistry that is observed in or on solids. Solid state reactions are those chemical reactions in which at least one solid product is formed from at least one solid reactant. This definition excludes processes for synthesis of solids from nonsolid reactants. If solids are made from gases and liquids as in chemical vapor deposition or in sol-gel reactions, it is not strictly speaking solid state chemistry. Defect chemistry is a central subject in solid state chemistry, and the physical chemistry of defects is discussed in Chapter 10. 

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