The principle of HiPIMS technology

In 1999, Kouznetsov et al. of Sweden successfully developed the High Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering (HiPIMS) technology. It is characterized by using high-power pulses as the power supply mode of magnetron sputtering. On the premise of maintaining the same average power, by shortening the pulse time of the pulse power supply (30-300 us) and adjusting the pulse frequency （100-1000 Hz）, the instantaneous peak power increases by three orders of magnitude (as shown in the figure below). As a result, ultra-high plasma density (1018~1019 m-3) is obtained, which is 3 to 4 orders of magnitude higher than that of traditional DCMS and MFMS techniques.