Langmuir probe measurements of electron density and temperature are made in the plume of a dc arcjet reactor. A dc arc is struck in an argon or argon/hydrogen mixture at 6 atm pressure and expands through a converging/diverging nozzle into the reactor with a pressure of 25 Torr. Methane and methane/nitric oxide are added in the diverging nozzle, and diamond film grows on a substrate in the gas plume. Electron temperatures of 1–2 eV are significantly hotter than the neutral gas temperature in the plume. Electron densities range from 1010to 1013cm−3, well above the Saha equilibrium for the gas temperature and pressure and well below the equilibrium for the electron temperature. ©1997 American Institute of Physics.