Patent ID: 7323229

Claim:
Method for coating a substrate with a layer of a material in which a quantity of electrically conductive material is introduced in a vacuum chamber and energy is supplied to the electrically conductive material, which is to be vaporized, to vaporize the electrically conductive material, comprising keeping the electrically conductive material to be vaporized, while it is being vaporized, floating in the vacuum chamber and enclosed in an alternating electromagnetic field, the alternating electromagnetic field being generated with the aid of a high-frequency alternating current passing through a coil, passing the substrate in the form of a strip through the vacuum chamber and continuously covering the substrate with a layer of the material, and continuously replenishing the electrically conductive material that is vaporized with additional quantities of the electrically conductive material over the course of time, wherein the alternating electromagnetic field of the coil is shaped such that a separate section of the alternating field draws in the additional quantities of the electrically conductive materials to the floating electrically conductive material, wherein the material to be vaporized is heated with the aid of electromagnetic induction heating.