A snapshot of electrified nanodroplets undergoing Coulomb fission

Abstract

We investigate the size distribution of electrically charged nanodroplets using atomic force microscopy (AFM). The droplets were generated using nano- and micro-scale silicon tips. A brief voltage pulse results in a “snapshot” of charged nanodroplets on a Cr surface. AFM of the traces left by the nanodroplets revealed that certain droplet diameters are favored suggesting droplet fission due to Rayleigh instability at nanometer length scales. The most occurring droplet diameters are 85.9(4.1) nm and 167.1 nm (9.7 nm) for nano- and micro-scale tips, respectively.