Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is an established process used to deposit thin films of advanced materials, based on chemical reactions. Three recent developments in CVD materials processing are described. Low pressure CVD is used extensively in the semiconductor, microelectronics, and optoelectronics industries for depositing stabilized oxides to protect graphite composites, and hard coatings of titanium compounds for cutting tools. Metallorganic CVD is the primary process for depositing the III-V group elements for advanced epitaxial semiconductor designs. Plasma-enhanced CVD is based on the ionization of chemical species and is growing rapidly in importance in areas such as the deposition of diamond films in a microwave plasma.