Ag and Cr have been evaporated by a low−voltage, high−current electron beam from a HCD gun and deposited on a negatively biased substrate. The flux of Ag ions which strike the substrate was detected separately from Ag atoms, gas atoms, and ions of argon, as reported elsewhere. In the present study, calorimetric measurement of heat dissipated at the negatively biased receiving plane (substrate) shows that the major contribution to heat input comes from energetic neutrals rather than from metal ions; the contribution is, for example, 48% and 23%, respectively, of the total heat dissipated. The bias voltage, argon pressure, electron−beam voltage, beam current, and Ag deposition rate are −200 V, 0.75 mTorr, 45 V, 55 A, and 0.8 μ/min, respectively. Thick films of Cr deposited on steel sheets are evaluated as functions of substrate temperature and negative−bias voltage.