Patent ID: 8646409

Claim:
A vacuum treatment installation for plasma treatment, in particular for the plasma coating of workpieces, comprising at least one arrangement for boosting and/or igniting a glow discharge plasma for the treatment of said workpieces, said arrangement comprising at least one hollow body of an electrically conductive material, the hollow body comprising a hollow space and at least one opening at an entrance to the hollow space through which charge carriers can flow off into environs of the arrangement in order to make here possible ignition and operation of a plasma or to boost a plasma existing here, the hollow body comprising at least two cathode annuli having a hollow space and at least one lateral surface, which comprises at least a part of said lateral surface being a surface of a grid and of at least a part of said lateral surface being realized by mutually distant rods, wherein the hollow space of the hollow body is formed such that when an electric signal is applied to the hollow body, at least in a certain pressure and voltage range, geometric conditions for the ignition of a discharge in the interior of the hollow body are satisfied and wherein said hollow body is not a workpiece carrier.