Environmentally-safe high-power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) technology was utilized to deposit chromium films. This research focused on the influences of the HiPIMS pulse widths on the microstructure of films deposited at different deposition pressures and substrate bias voltages. Under the conditions of the same average HiPIMS power and duty cycle, the deposition rate of the Cr thin film at working pressure 0.8 Pa is slightly higher than at 1.2 Pa. Also, the difference between deposition rates under two pressures decreases with the discharge pulse width. The deposition rate of the short pulse width 60 μs is lowest, but those of 200 and 360 μs are approximately the same. With no or small direct current substrate biasing, the microstructure of films coated at short pulse width is similar to the typical magnetron sputtering deposited films. Elongating the pulse width enhances the ion flux toward the substrate and changes the film structure from individual prism-like columns into tangled 3-point/4-point star columns. Substantial synchronized substrate biasing and longer pulse width changes the preferred orientation of Cr films from Cr (110) to Cr (200) and Cr (211). The films deposited at longer pulse width exhibit a higher hardness due to the reducing of intercolumn voids.

The physical damage induced in silicon by argon magnetron discharges has been studied. The surface trap density measured with the high-low frequency capacitance-voltage method was used to evaluate the degree of damage on the substrate. No damage is found for substrates sputter-etched in an RF discharge with 3 0 eV mean ion energy. Substrates sputter etched in 450 eV DC discharge show damage similar to that obtained in other glow discharge or ion milling systems with the same energy.

Chromium-carbon films were deposited by utilizing reactive high-power impulse magnetron sputtering at different mixture ratios of ethyne and argon atmosphere, and different substrate bias voltages and deposition temperature, with the same pulse frequency, duty cycle, and average power. The microstructure and mechanical properties of the obtained films were compared. The films consist of amorphous or nanocrystalline chromium carbide, hydrogenated amorphous carbon, and minor α-chromium phase. Decreasing the fraction of ethyne increases the content of the α-chromium phase but decreases hydrogenated amorphous carbon phase. The film’s hardness increases by enhancing the negative substrate bias and raising the deposition temperature, which could be attributed to the increase of film density and the Hall–Petch strengthening effect induced by the nanoscale crystallization of the amorphous carbide phase.

The Zr film microstructure is highly influenced by the energy of the plasma species during the deposition process. The influences of the discharge pulse width, which is the key factor affecting ionization of sputtered species in the high-power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) process, on the obtained microstructure of films is investigated in this research. The films deposited at different argon pressure and substrate biasing are compared. With keeping the same average HiPIMS power and duty cycle, the film growth rate of the Zr film decreases with increasing argon pressure and enhancing substrate biasing. In addition, the film growth rate decreases with the elongating HiPIMS pulse width. For the deposition at 1.2 Pa argon, extending the pulse width not only intensifies the ion flux toward the substrate but also increases the fraction of highly charged ions, which alter the microstructure of films from individual hexagonal prism columns into a tightly connected irregular column. Increasing film density leads to higher hardness. Sufficient synchronized negative substrate biasing and longer pulse width, which supports higher mobility of adatoms, causes the preferred orientation of hexagonal α-phase Zr films from (0 0 0 2) to (1 0 1¯ 1). Unlike the deposition at 1.2 Pa, highly charged ions are also found during the short HiPIMS pulse width at 0.8 Pa argon.