  Deposition of thin films that are resistant to aggressive environment
conditions, using the High-power impulse magnetron sputtering (HIPIMS)
technique, represents a technological challenge. To establish the optimal
operating conditions it is desirable to know the lifetime of the magnetized
plasma at the end of the pulsed cathode current. The table-top system we
developed allows one to measure the lifetime for all operating HiPIMS types,
both for short and long pulses, based on the rapid increase of the current when
applying a voltage pulse with very short rise time, up to a value which depends
of the initial magnetized plasma characteristics.
