Process of evaporation of rare-earth metal, zirconium and thorium oxides were studied. Equations for calculating the partial pressures of the individual components of the compounds in the temperature region between 1,000 and 2,500 K are presented. Studies of the emissive properties have shown the feasibility of using mixtures of scandium, yttrium, dysprosium and erbium for making a cathode coating of high-pressure vapor discharge lamps.