The electrical properties of a modulated pulsed power (MPP) magnetron discharge were experimentally and theoretically studied in case of reactive sputtering of metallic zirconium target in argon/oxygen mixtures. The high-power pulsing was assisted by pre-ionization provided by a low-power direct current (DC) magnetron discharge filling the pulse-off period. The ranges of stable discharge operation parameters (applied voltage and oxygen flow rate) were determined for pulse-on time of 3ms and pulse-off time 100–1000ms. The maximum stable peak power density was 2.1 kW cm⁻². Strong dependence of the MPP discharge current waveforms on the pulse-off time was found, indicating the important role of the pre-ionizing DC discharge. In presence of oxygen, discharge peak current was observed with characteristic width up to 1.5ms, followed by non-reactive-like plateau region. For theoretical treatment of the observed discharge current behavior, we modified the well-known Berg model of reactive sputtering by introducing the terms required for adequate description of time-dependent poisoning and sputtering processes. The reactive ion implantation term was also transformed to account for the process saturation at high ion current densities. Calculation results from the modified Berg model demonstrated good agreement between our experimental observations of discharge current evolution and target poisoning dynamics in the timescale of milliseconds.

在氩/氧混合物中反应溅射金属锆靶的情况下，对调制脉冲功率 (MPP) 磁控管放电的电特性进行了实验和理论研究。高功率脉冲由填充脉冲关闭周期的低功率直流 (DC) 磁控管放电提供的预电离辅助。稳定放电操作参数（外加电压和氧气流量）的范围确定为脉冲开启时间为 3ms，脉冲关闭时间为 100-1000ms。最大稳定峰值功率密度为 2.1 kW cm ^-2. 发现 MPP 放电电流波形对脉冲关闭时间有很强的依赖性，表明预电离直流放电的重要作用。在氧气存在下，观察到放电峰值电流的特征宽度高达 1.5ms，然后是非反应性的平台区域。对于观察到的放电电流行为的理论处理，我们通过引入充分描述时间相关中毒和溅射过程所需的术语来修改众所周知的反应溅射的 Berg 模型。反应离子注入项也被转换以解释高离子电流密度下的工艺饱和。