Although the peak power is 2–3 orders of magnitude larger than commonly used in a conventional dcMS discharge, the average power is the same. The parameter range is much wider in the pulsed system compared to conventional dc and radio frequency (rf) operation and the pulsing of the discharge allows for a much greater flexibility due to additional control parameters such as pulse width, duty cycle, and pulse frequency. A thorough review on IPVD techniques and their
applications was given by Helmersson et al.