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A pulsed glow discharge is used for sputtering in the presence of a gas flow to form a metal vapour jet suitable for use in a room-temperature metal vapour laser. It is found that the sputtering process is most efficient during the first 50 ps of the discharge pulse. Switching the discharge in the burst mode with a pulse duration of about 15 ps and an interpulse delay of about 18 ps achieves similar metal vapour concentrations in the jet to that attained by steady-pulse sputtering, but requires only half the total discharge energy.

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