AbstractLow temperature low pressure hollow cathode plasma jet system working in static magnetic field was investigated by means of time resolved Langmuir probe technique. The hollow cathode discharge was excited in a cylindrical nozzle fabricated from Ti by continuous DC, pulsed DC, continuous wave radio‐frequency (RF) and pulse‐modulated RF power. Pure Ar was used as working gas. Electron distribution, electron density, and effective electron temperature were measured and compared between the different plasma jet excitation modes. Time evolution of plasma parameters was studied and compared with time evolution of power absorbed in the discharge in pulsed DC and pulse‐modulated RF discharge excitation modes. (© 2006 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)