High power pulsed magnetron sputtering (HPPMS) applies a very large power pulse to the target in a short period of time. Typical power densities are on the order of 1,000 to 3,000 W cm@super -2@ with pulse durations of 100-150 μsec. This power density is about 100 times the typical power densities used in conventional sputtering. Depending on the size of the sputtering target, the peak power can reach the megawatt range. The very interesting feature of HPPMS is that there is a high degree of ionization of the sputtered species due to electron impact ionization, and most of the ionized species are singularly ionized although there are reports of small amounts of multiply ionized species of the target material. These ionized species can be used to improve the structure and properties of the deposited film, and the ionized species will follow field lines to a biased substrate producing a dense film in side wall features as has been demonstrated by Alami et al.@footnote 1@ In many respects HPPMS is very much like the cathodic are process where there is a very high degree of ionization of the evaporant, but unlike the arc process there are few if no droplets produced in the process. HPPMS has been used for reactive sputtering of conducting materials such as chromium nitride, and it has also been used for the reactive sputter deposition of the oxides of Al, Ta, and Ti. The one disadvantage of the HPPMS process that has come to light so far is that its deposition rate is only 25-30% of the rate for an equivalent amount of power used during conventional DC sputtering. A model by Christie@footnote 2@ has been developed to explain this loss of rate for the HPPMS process, and the model provides insights that hopefully will bring a solution to this loss of rate issue. In this talk, the current state of the art for HPPMS will be reviewed with an eye toward the future to see where HPPMS can be used to benefit the thin film community. @FootnoteText@@footnote 1@J. Alami, P. O. @Ao@. Persson, D. Music, J. T. Gudmundsson, J. Bohlmark, and U. Helmersson, J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 23, 278 (2005). @footnote 2@D. J. Christie, J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 23, 330 (2005).