Method and apparatus for atmospheric pressure plasma jet coating deposition on a substrate

A method for plasma coating an object comprising an object profile, comprising the steps of:

• (a) manufacturing a replaceable shield comprising a jet inlet, a nozzle outlet and a sidewall extending from the jet inlet to the nozzle outlet, wherein the nozzle outlet comprises an edge essentially congruent to at least part of the object profile;
• (b) detachably attaching the replaceable shield to a jet outlet of a plasma jet generator;
• (c) placing the object at the nozzle outlet such that the object profile fits closely to the nozzle outlet edge, thereby minimizing a gap between the nozzle outlet and the object;
• (d) plasma coating the object with a low-temperature, oxygen-free plasma at an operating pressure which is higher than the atmospheric pressure, by at most 10%, by providing a plasma jet in the shield via the plasma jet generator and injecting coating precursors in the plasma jet in the shield, thereby creating said operating pressure, thereby plasma coating the object in an oxygen-depleted plasma zone;
• wherein a temperature of the plasma in step(d) is lower than 120° C.