Understand fundamentals of HIPIMS plasma – temporal evolution of plasma density plasma potential and electron energy distribution function. Understand factors driving the formation of plasma chemistry – peak power, magnetic field, target material, gas pressure. Characterise fully the deposition flux in terms of chemistry and energy. Understand the growth of nitrides under conditions of ion bombardment, effect of metal ionisation, gas activation, and substrate bias. Understand film growth, microstructure and texture evolution.

Collaboration with A Anders, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, USA, I Petrov, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA and P Barna and his group at Research Institute for Technical Physics and Materials Science, Hungary.