Plasma CVD PCVD

Figure 1.3 clearly demonstrates the luminous gas phase created under the influence of microwave energy coupled to the acetylene (gas) contained in the bottle. This luminous gas phase has been traditionally described in terms such as low-pressure plasma, low-temperature plasma, nonequilibrium plasma, glow discharge plasma, and so forth. The process that utilizes such a luminous vapor phase has been described as plasma polymerization, plasma-assisted CVD (PACVD), plasma-enhanced CVD (PECVD), plasma CVD (PCVD), and so forth. 

Ceramic Preparative Methods 17.2.5. Chemical Vapor Deposition 17.2.5.3. Plasma CVD (PCVD)... 

Up to now three chemical vapor deposition (CVD) techniques have proved suitable for the preparation of high quality optical fibers the outside vapour phase oxidation (OVPO) process8, the modified CVD (MCVD) process9 and the plasma-activated CVD (PCVD) process10. The last mentioned process will be the main subject of this article. To give a better appreciation of the principles the alternative processes will be described briefly. 

CVD can also be classified using its activation methods. Thermal activated CVD processes are initiated only with the thermal energy of resistance heating, RF heating or by infrared radiation. They are widely used to manufacture the materials for high-temperature and hard-to-wear applications. In some cases enhanced CVD methods are employed, which includes plasma-enhanced CVD (PECVD), laser-induced CVD (LCVD), photo CVD (PCVD), catalysis-assisted CVD and so on. In a plasma-enhanced CVD process the plasma is used to activate the precursor gas, which significantly decreases the deposition temperature. 

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. 

Another technique proposed for the inside process is plasma chemical vapor deposition (PCVD). In this version of the process, a low-pressure plasma is generated inside the tube that does not lead to soot generation, but rather allows a heterogeneously nucleated chemical reaction to occur at the inner surface of the tube, so that the glass is built up in molecular-scale layers. This is a true chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process. More layers are required than with soot, but the process can be controlled more precisely. Unfortunately, the process has not yet proved commercially economical. 

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