Patent ID: 8137510

Claim:
A coater for coating large-area substrates by means of cathode sputtering, said coater comprising a coating chamber and, provided therein, more than three cathode assemblies ( 2 ) where a material to be sputtered is located on a target ( 4 ) that rotates during a coating process and has a curved surface, wherein the cathode assemblies ( 2 ) with rotatable, curved targets ( 4 ) are magnetrons with magnets ( 3 ) or magnet assemblies provided inside the target ( 4 ) and the target ( 4 ) rotates around the magnets ( 3 ) or magnet assemblies and means are provided for continuously rotating the targets around the magnets or magnet assemblies during the coating process, wherein the more than three cathode assemblies ( 2 ) with rotatable, curved targets ( 4 ) are positioned one beside the other with two outer cathode assemblies in a single coating chamber for a coherent coating zone at the substrate, wherein the cathode assemblies are positioned equidistant to each other with only the two outer cathode assemblies pushed nearer to adjacent cathode assemblies, providing even coating of static large-area substrates.