Etching or coating method and a plant therefor

Claim 1

A vacuum etching or coating apparatus comprising an enclosure having a hollow interior space to be evacuated, said enclosure being substantially formed by a top, a bottom and a side wall section; said enclosure having an inner surface which predominantly borders said interior space and an outer surface predominantly exposed to an ambient, said inner surface defined by top and bottom surfaces which are substantially flat and do not protrude into said interior space defined by the side wall and upper and lower ends thereof, joined by a side wall surface; said enclosure of said apparatus being formed by two electro-conductive enclosure portions electrically insulated from one another by a dielectric spacer, an extent of said dielectric spacer contributing to said inner surface of said enclosure only by an amount sufficient to electrically isolate said two electro-conductive enclosure portions from one another, the surfaces of said conductive enclosure portions exposed to said interior space defining a pair of electrodes electrically separated from each other; the entire interior surface of said electrode comprised of said conductive enclosure portions being covered by a thin dielectric layer, said dielectric layer forming a capacitance creating an RF electric signal transmitting element from RF plasma discharge between said inner surfaces of said two conductive portions forming said electrode surfaces.