The PACVD apparatus is a modified PACVD system manufactured by Rübig GmbH. It is designed for the production of hard coatings as well as for plasma nitriding. The system consists of a reactor with an auxiliary heating system, a gas supply, a pumping system with pressure control, a pulsed dc power supply and a process control system. The vacuum vessel has an inner diameter of 50 cm and a height of 90 cm.

The discharge voltage is applied to a substrate holder positioned 15 cm above the bottom of the vessel, whereas the walls of the vessel serve as grounded counter electrode, thus enabling a wide space for the load. The reactor can be operated with well-defined process gas mixtures at pressures between 0.5 and 10 mbar. Furthermore, a spectroscopic ellipsometer is attached to the PACVD system, thus allowing an on-line observation of the surface of the substrate under treatment.