Here, A is an atom; e and e' are incident and scattered electrons, respectively; and e" is an electron knocked out from the atom. Excited particles are marked by an asterisk. Processes similar to (1) are of interest for a series of branches of fundamental science (theory of atomic structure, atomic spectroscopy, physics of atomic and electron collisions, astrophysics), as well as for intensely developed intermediate branches at the boundary between fundamental and applied science (lasers, plasma chemistry, special radiation sources). Ionic metal-vapor lasers (MVL) are the most typical example. Principal directions of developing current metal-vapor lasers involve the use of high-temperature active media and the improvement of performance characteristics of MVL, namely, the elevation of their efficiency and output-radiation power, the extension of the range of operating conditions, etc. All MVL, among them ionic MVL, can be classified according to two basic criteria: the technique of introducing active-medium atoms into the discharge and the method of exciting the atoms. Thermal evaporation is the most evident method of such introduction. However, this method requires the entire discharge tube to be heated up to a sufficiently high temperature. Sometimes, this procedure encounters insurmountable technical difficulties. In order to avoid them, a variety of approaches were proposed. To date, three basic methods for introducing high-temperature atoms into an active volume have been proposed: (1) cathode sputtering (MVL on transitions of copper, silver, gold, etc. [1]),