Within this method a dielectric barrier discharge is used to activate materials or to deposit thin films onto surfaces. About a 1 mm-thick dielectric is placed between two planar electrodes, which works as a dielectric barrier. So the discharge between the electrodes burns as a lot of small microspots, whereas the distance between the two electrodes is in the range of some millimeters. If a gas stream or a planar workpiece is introduced between the two electrodes, which are also only a few millimetres apart, it is possible to activate the material surface. The process is widely used in industry for plasma activation of planar materials or even web material. The principle is also used for ozonizers. By using chemical precursors it is possible to provide planar materials with coatings.

At INNOVENT there are two different DBD systems for the areal treatment of flat substrates as well as for the treatment of foils prior wet-chemical coating (sol-gel application).