Phygen was founded in 1994 by David C. Bell with the objective of being a technology leader in the PVD surface coatings industry. From the beginning, Phygen's goal has been to develop new top-performing coatings for dies, molds, and tooling used in die casting, metal forming, and plastic injection molding. Initially Phygen's scientists invested six years of research and development activity to perfect new systems and processes. In 2000, Phygen was awarded a US Patent for a higher-energy plasma acceleration process that is used to apply Phygen's UltraEnduranceSM FortiPhy coatings.

The technology developed by Phygen provides a superior combination of coating properties by creating a dense, non-columnar coating structure having the highest possible adhesion level.

Independent testing at Argonne National Laboratory and the Colorado School of Mines has found Phygen coatings to possess highly superior physical properties. Successful use of Phygen FortiPhy coatings include applications in metal forming, plastic injection molding, aluminum die casting, and medical components