High Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering (HiPIMS)

Pulsed deposition technique
• Up to 100’s of kW peak power for the same average power as direct current magnetron sputtering (DCMS)
• High peak power means electron density can be 2 orders of magnitude higher for HiPIMS than DCMS
• Higher electron density leads to higher ionization fraction which improves film density, hardness, and conformality
• Positive voltage pulse (kick ) following the main pulse enables control over the ion energy