Two types of plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) technologies were developed. The main benefits of these DC-magnetron based PECVD (magPECVD) and hollow cathode arc driven PECVD (arcPECVD) are their low process pressure in the range of 0.1 to 5 Pa and the high deposition rate up to 400 nm m/min for magPECVD and 3000 nm m/min for arcPECVD. Both processes were used in combination with inline sputtered layers to produce layer stacks in roll-to-roll coaters on polymer webs. Optical layer stacks made with these technologies showed nearly no layer stress. The mechanical robustness of permeation barrier layers was increased by implementation of interlayers made by these PECVD methods. Necessary hardware was developed for industrial applications with web widths of 1.7 m for magPECVD and 2.85 m for arcPECVD. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.