Flux-distribution formulas are applied to physical-vapor deposition from open-boat-type sources onto static and rotating substrates. A relation is derived for the dependence of flux variation at the substrate on source-substrate separation for the static-substrate case. For the rotating-substrate case, the deposition geometry that yields optimal film-thickness uniformity for different source-substrate separations is derived empirically. For rotating substrates, both the percentage flux variation and the magnitude of the net deposition flux obey power-law dependences with respect to the source-substrate separation. Finally, a formula is derived for the percentage of source material deposited on the substrate as a function of source position. (c) 2006 American Vacuum Society.