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CVD has also been used to fabricate micro-scale bres and helical structures using
a combination of a linear three-axes micropositioning system and a rotating goniometer which provide many degrees of freedom (e.g. translation and rotation)
[14,15]. The 3-D structures have been fabricated by moving the focal point of the
laser beam relative to the growth structure by rotation and translation of the substrate to initiate the chemical reaction and/or provide the substrate heating. For
example, Westberg et al. [15] have used photo-assisted CVD (PACVD) to produce
the silicon bre substrate on which to grow a tungsten helix coil. This procedure
resulted in the fabrication of a simple microsolenoid consisting of a tungsten helix
coil on a silicon bre using PACVD.
2.3. Rapid prototyping
CVD has been explored for rapid prototyping of near net shape components [16
19]. For example, a continuous wave visible laser beams (514 nm, 488 nm) and the
gaseous precursors of trimethylamine alane [AlH3.N(CH3)3] and oxygen have been
used to fabricate free-standing three-dimensional alumina that can be directly written under software control to potentially produce micro-objects such as microtweezers and micro-robots [18]. Duty et al. [19] have incorporated novel design features into a laser-jet CVD rapid prototyping system which is capable of fabricating
net shape complex metal, ceramic, and metal/ceramic composite parts. This include
three modes of operation, a reagent gas jet delivery system, bimodal heating, a exible interface between dual chambers, and on-line deposit dimensional control. This
design enables direct fabrication of bre-reinforced composites, functionally graded
materials, and nanolaminates.
There are many publications on the subject of CVD that include books [2025],
general review articles [2630], journals [e.g. Advanced MaterialsCVD Section]
and conference proceedings sponsored by the Electrochemical Society (since 1960s),
Materials Research Society (MRS) and the Euro CVD society.

3. Advantages and disadvantages of CVD

Although CVD is a complex chemical system, it has the following distinctive
advantages:
(a) The capability of producing highly dense and pure materials.
(b) Produces uniform lms with good reproducibility and adhesion at reasonably
high deposition rates.
(c) CVD is a non-line-of-sight process with good throwing power. Therefore, it
can be used to uniformly coat complex shaped components and deposit lms
with good conformal coverage. Such distinctive feature outweighs the PVD
process.
(d) It has the ability to control crystal structure, surface morphology and orientation
of the CVD products by controlling the CVD process parameters.