High-power impulse magnetron sputtering

HIPIMS utilises extremely high power densities of the order of kW⋅cm−2 in short pulses (impulses) of tens of microseconds at low duty cycle (on/off time ratio) of < 10%.

The main ionisation mechanism is electron impact, which is balanced by charge exchange, diffusion, and plasma ejection in flares.

HIPIMS is typically operated in short pulse (impulse) mode with a low duty cycle in order to avoid overheating of the target and other system components.

Substrate pretreatment in a plasma environment is required prior to deposition of thin films on mechanical components such as automotive parts, metal cutting tools and decorative fittings.

[8] Substrate biasing during pretreatment uses high voltages, which require purpose-designed arc detection and suppression technology.

[11] The first thorough investigation of films deposited by HIPIMS by TEM demonstrated a dense microstructure, free of large scale defects.

[8] The commercialisation of HIPIMS hardware that followed made the technology accessible to the wider scientific community and triggered developments in a number of areas.

Similarly to what is witnessed in conventional reactive sputter deposition process, HiPIMS has also been used to attain oxide or nitride-based films on several substrates, as is seen in the list below.

However, as it is characteristic of these methods, the performance of such depositions has significant hysteresis and need to be carefully examined to inspect the optimal operation points.

The gold version of the Apple iPhone 12 Pro uses this process on the structural stainless steel band that also serves as the device's antenna system.