There are many different vapor phase surface treatments of materials that can be used to produce a wide variety of end results, but each of them are of increasing importance in the pursuit of high performance advanced materials. These techniques differ significantly in the physical or chemical nature of the gas-surface interactions involved, and also in the thickness and morphology of the coatings produced.

Applications include advanced semiconductors, optics, and nanotechnology, as well as many more. This book details the most important techniques used in industrial applications, providing coverage from the basic physics to the technical details of each, with emphasis on the macroscopic engineering of the processes and the microscopic characterization of the produced coatings.

Vacuum evaporation, cathodic sputtering and ion implantation produce thin films mainly by physical interactions, gas cementation, nitridation, carbonitridation and pack cementation produce thicker surface modifications involving chemical reactions. A section of the book is devoted to chemical vapor deposition (CVD) processes, with dedicated chapters dealing with i) principles and industrial applications, ii) the use of plasma and lasers to assist deposition, and iii) macroscopic modeling of reactors. Alain Galerie has drawn contributions from leading experts at top research universities to produce a complete overview of the vapor phase surface treatments which have an increasing role in modern surface engineering.