A method of generating a pulsed plasma plume of metallic species using a hollow-cathode arc discharge arrangement is presented. Electrical energy from a pulse-forming network (PFN) generates the transient plasma that evaporates material from the anode that is placed inside a hollow cathode. The discharge is triggered by thermionic electrons produced by a CO2 laser pulse that impinges on one of the electrodes. This plasma process has been used to deposit carbon films in a low-pressure argon or nitrogen ambient. Current pulses of 4-10 ms in duration with peak currents of 350 A have been produced by the PFN. Characteristics of the produced plasma have been studied by optical emission spectroscopy. The amount of energy imparted to the argon plasma is more than that for a nitrogen plasma. Comparison of on-axis intensity for the 426.9 nm line of C+ for the two plasmas shows that the density of carbon ions generated in the nitrogen plasma is higher than that in the argon plasma. Films deposited by this method have fairly uniform thickness profiles that are of the form cos(0.4) theta for the argon plasma and cos(2.2) theta for the nitrogen plasma. This indicates that the nitrogen plasma is more forward directed than the argon plasma. Deposition rates of about 10-16 Angstrom/pulse have been obtained for carbon films. (C) 2004 American Vacuum Society.