Abstract: A plasma process and apparatus are provided for coating one or more planar substrates by a plasma-induced chemical vapor deposition in which plasma electrodes provide a plurality of overlapping plasma columns which extend over the entire surface of the substrate to be coated. A plurality of plasma electrodes are fixed in planes above, between, or below the substrates, and the individual plasma electrodes can be separately controlled. With a plasma pulse/CVD process, the spacing and angle between the substrates can be varied to alter the thickness of the coating. The process can be used for coating large area, planar vitreous bodies with multilayer optical coatings.