The techniques of atomic‐absorption and emission spectroscopy have been used to detect atoms ejected from an aluminum cathode which is sputtered in a glow discharge in argon. The rate of deposition of the sputtered material is measured using a piezoelectric microbalance which is capable of measuring deposition rates as small as 9.2×10−8G min−1. The use of atomic‐absorption spectroscopy is shown to be a sensitive and reliable method for the study of the sputtering process. Experimental results indicate that some of the sputtered material in the glow discharge exists in the form of ``molecules.'' However, the absolute numbers of sputtered atoms has not been determined due to uncertainties in the tabulated values of atomic‐transition probabilities.