The substrate is repetitively pulsed to a high negative voltage. In addition, PSII can be done at room temperature. In addition to gearing up its PSII operation, Empire is expanding its service offerings to include PVD and thermal spray by early 1997. The company is doing this to meet the needs of its varied customers, which represent approximately 80 different industries. As with most decisions that manufacturers must make, choosing an electroplating alternative involves evaluating numerous factors.
Many alternatives can work for many applications.
Although BIRL's Sproul said that the cost of PVD is declining, especially in light of the added equipment that is required to meet ongoing environmental concerns with electroplating, he concurred with Horne's statement regarding costs and results. It all comes down to the application and the quality that is required. Understand the electroplating alternatives Following are brief descriptions and basic diagrams of how these four electroplating alternatives work. The two principle PVD processes are evaporation and sputtering. A combination of the two is called ion plating.