| CPC C23C 14/562 (2013.01) [B05C 5/02 (2013.01); C23C 14/228 (2013.01); H01B 12/06 (2013.01)] | 12 Claims |

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1. An apparatus for coating a substrate with a metallic coating, in a vacuum environment, wherein a background gas pressure in the vacuum environment is at most 1·10−1 Pascal, comprising:
a gas source for generating a metallic material in the gas phase, wherein the vapor pressure of the metallic material in the gas source is at least 1·101 Pascal;
wherein the gas source comprises an opening from which the gaseous metallic material flows into an expansion chamber installed between the gas source and a coating zone for the substrate;
wherein the expansion chamber is formed as a divergent part of a Laval nozzle having an inlet opening directed to the gas source and an outlet opening directed towards the coating zone such that a flow of the gaseous metallic material is parallelized with respect to the substrate;
wherein the expansion chamber is coated with an anti-adhesion coating and is actively cooled, and
wherein a lamellar diaphragm is arranged between the gas source and the inlet opening of the expansion chamber.
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