The invention relates to a
susceptor for supporting a substrate (9) within a vacuum process chamber, comprising a flat surface (11) for placing the substrate (9) thereon such that the substrate (9) is in thermally conductive contact with the surface (11), whereby the
susceptor (1) comprises at least three adjacent zones (5, 6, 8), an outer zone (8), a
middle zone (6) and an inner zone (5), the zones (5, 6, 8) arranged concentrically around each other and extending along the surface (11), the outer zone (8) completely surrounds the
middle zone (6) and the
middle zone (6) completely surrounds the inner zone (5), the inner zone (5) comprises at least one inner
heating element (13) affecting the inner zone (5), the outer zone (8) comprises at least one outer
heating element (19) affecting the outer zone (8), the middle zone (6) exhibits a maximal thickness (15); that is smaller than the minimal thickness (12) of the inner zone (5) and smaller than the minimal thickness (16) of the outer zone (8), each thickness (12, 15, 16) extending perpendicular to the surface (11). Thus, the invention allows for providing a smooth temperature profile over the complete surface (11) area resulting in a highly uniform substrate (9) temperature and thus in an improved thickness (12, 15, 16) uniformity of a
coating to be provided e.g. in a chemical
vapour deposition process.