High power impulse magnetron sputtering( HIPIMS) is a promising technology that has drawn attention in both academia and industry in recent years. HIPIMS,also known as high power pulse magnetron sputtering,is a physical vapor deposition technique. The high power has been brought to extremely high discharge current density of several A·cm~(-2) and HIPIMS has been successfully developed to produce high plasma densities of the order of 10~(19) m~(-3). The plasma properties in sputtering process have shown the great advantages,which make it possible to control the deposition process and optimize the performance of films. In this paper,we show the I-V characteristics of discharge and the design of power supply,as well as the ionization rate of sputtered atoms. Furthermore,the spatial and the temporal evolution of plasma,the nonnormal transport of ionized species,and the deposition rate are reviewed.