High power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) is an ionized physical vapor deposition (IPVD) technique that is particularly promising for reactive sputtering applications. However, there are few issues that have to be resolved before the full potential of this technique can be realized. Here we give an overview of the key experimental findings for the reactive HiPIMS discharge. An increase in the discharge current is commonly observed with increased partial pressure of the reactive gas or decreased repetition pulse frequency. There are somewhat conflicting claims regarding the hysteresis effect in the reactive HiPIMS discharge as some report reduction or elimination of the hysteresis effect while others claim a feedback control is essential. The ion energy distribution of the metal ion and the atomic ion of the reactive gas are similar and extend to very high energies while the ion energy distribution of the working gas and the molecular ion of the reactive gas are similar and are much less energetic.
高功率脉冲磁控溅射（HiPIMS）是一种电离物理气相沉积（IPVD）技术，特别适用于反应溅射。然而，在充分发挥该技术的潜力之前，仍有若干问题需要解决。本文概述了反应性HiPIMS放电的关键实验发现。随着反应气体分压的增加或脉冲重复频率的降低，放电电流通常会增加。关于反应性HiPIMS放电中的滞后效应，存在相互矛盾的报道：一些研究观察到滞后效应减弱甚至消除，而另一些研究则声称反馈控制必不可少。金属离子与反应气体原子离子的能量分布相似，均可延伸至非常高的能量范围；而工作气体离子与反应气体分子离子的能量分布则较为接近，且能量显著较低。