Abstract: A method is disclosed for the reactive plating of substrates to produce transparent conducting films and photoactive coatings. Reactive gases at low pressures are introduced into a vacuum chamber having a partial vacuum therein. A substrate located in the vacuum chamber is subjected to a glow discharge in the partial vacuum. A coating material, such as zinc or silicon is vaporized in the vacuum chamber to react with the gases, with the resulting compound being deposited on the substrate by the effect of the glow discharge. The power in the glow discharge and the partial pressures of the vaporized coating material and gases introduced into the vacuum chamber can all be controlled separately to vary the stoichiometric ratios and the properties of the coatings. The electrode geometry is arranged and the operation maintained such that the power density distribution in the discharge is fixed and controlled.