Thin film deposition (TFD), or vacuum coating, describes a process where an extremely thin film is applied to the surface of a material to alter or enhance its qualities. Vacuum coating can be used to provide wear resistance, enhanced visual appearance, or to improve the physical or electrical characteristics of a material.

It's a process that’s being used increasingly in the manufacture of both high and low-tech materials, and it can only be done efficiently and to the highest standard in a vacuum.

Architectural glass, the kind used in the construction of 'statement' buildings such as the Gherkin and the Shard in central London, is produced using vacuum coating. Car windows use a TFD coating to control the car's internal temperature, lessening the use of fuel-hungry air conditioning, and making the car a naturally more comfortable environment to be in.

Ophthalmic lens, the type used in spectacles and contact lens, and optical lens used in scientific instruments use TFD coatings to make them scratch proof, tint them, or make them dust resistant. Every solar panel and double glazed window has a vacuum coating, and your mobile phone wouldn't work without TFD being used at virtually every stage of its manufacture.

And at the other end of the scale, large vacuum coating machines are used to produce coated film for food packaging that reduces gas permeability, prolonging shelf life, and enhances the visual appearance of the package.

Thin film deposition demands the highly controlled, sterile manufacturing environment that our latest GSX intelligent dry pumps, and our high-performance STP magnetically levitated turbomolecular pumps are designed to deliver.