A new gaseous discharge source has been developed for use in measurement of atomic and molecular electronic state lifetimes where the transitions occur in the range 1000–12 000 Å. The source is a coaxial aluminum cold cathode‐anode device utilizing fast pulse circuits, magnetic field breakdown enhancement, and a flowing gas supply. Excitation of gaseous species is achieved by electron collisions in the discharge. The cold cathode device can be used with any gaseous species since its source of electrons is not a heated oxide‐coated cathode. Excitation fall times of 2 nsec are obtained.