Abstract: The present invention relates to an electrode pair for generating a linear plasma wherein the electrodes (21, 22) are segmented. More particularly, the present invention relates to a plasma source, for instance a hollow-cathode plasma source, comprising one or more plasma-generating electrode pairs wherein the electrodes are segmented. The present invention further relates to methods for controlling the uniformity of a linear plasma and also to methods for surface treating or coating substrates in a uniform way with linear plasma sources.

Abstract: The invention relates to a technique of manufacturing a coated substrate (102) such as glass (104) carrying a conductive layer (112) such as a metal layer to be tempered after deposition. A system (100) for manufacturing the coated substrate (102) may comprise a sputtering configuration (120) adapted for depositing the conductive layer (112) on the substrate (104). A pulse laser (132) is adapted for irradiating the conductive layer (112) with laser pulses (136). The pulse laser (132) is adapted for laser pulses (136) with a pulse duration below one microsecond.