Magnetron sputtering deposition has become the most widely used technique for deposition of both metallic and compound thin films and is utilized in numerous industrial applications. There has been a continuous development of the magnetron sputtering technology to improve target utilization, increase ionization of the sputtered species, increase deposition rates, and to minimize electrical instabilities such as arcs, as well as to reduce operating cost. The development from the direct current (dc) diode sputter tool to the magnetron sputtering discharge is discussed as well as the various magnetron sputtering discharge configurations. The magnetron sputtering discharge is either operated as a dc or radio frequency discharge, or it is driven by some other periodic waveforms depending on the application. This includes reactive magnetron sputtering which exhibits hysteresis and is often operated with an asymmetric bipolar mid-frequency pulsed waveform. Due to target poisoning the reactive sputter process is inherently unstable and exhibits a strongly non-linear response to variations in operating parameters. Ionized physical vapor deposition was initially achieved by adding a secondary discharge between the cathode target and the substrate and later by applying high power pulses to the cathode target. An overview is given of the operating parameters, the discharge properties and the plasma parameters including particle densities, discharge current composition, electron and ion energy distributions, deposition rate, and ionized flux fraction. The discharge maintenance is discussed including the electron heating processes, the creation and role of secondary electrons and Ohmic heating, and the sputter processes. Furthermore, the role and appearance of instabilities in the discharge operation is discussed.

磁控溅射沉积已成为金属和化合物薄膜沉积的最广泛使用的技术，并已在许多工业应用中使用。磁控溅射技术一直在不断发展，以提高靶材利用率，增加溅射物质的离子化程度，提高沉积速率并最大程度地减少电弧等电不稳定性，并降低运行成本。讨论了从直流（dc）二极管溅射工具到磁控管溅射放电的发展以及各种磁控管溅射放电配置。磁控溅射放电可以作为直流放电或射频放电运行，也可以根据应用由其他一些周期性波形驱动。这包括具有磁滞现象的反应磁控溅射，通常以不对称的双极中频脉冲波形进行操作。由于靶中毒，反应性溅射过程固有地不稳定，并且对操作参数的变化表现出强烈的非线性响应。最初通过在阴极靶和基板之间添加二次放电，然后通过向阴极靶施加高功率脉冲来实现电离物理气相沉积。概述了操作参数，放电特性和等离子体参数，包括颗粒密度，放电电流组成，电子和离子能量分布，沉积速率和电离通量分数。讨论了放电维持，包括电子加热过程，二次电子和欧姆加热以及溅射过程的产生和作用。此外，讨论了不稳定性在放电操作中的作用和出现。