Abstract
Recent advances in liquid metal ion sources are reported. The source operates on the principle of electric field ionization of a molten metal film on a wetted needle. Application of a potential difference between the needle anode and an apertured cathode results in the generation of a liquid cusp at the needle apex. The electric field intensity at the cusp is sufficient to produce intense atomic-ion emission by field ionization. Continuous currents of 5–200 μA can be readily produced at modest voltages (2–10 kV). The outstanding features of the sources are high brightness, no gas load, pure species, simplicity and good lifetime. Ion beams have been produced from the following metals: Cs, Ag, Au, Ga, In, Sn, Pb, Al, Hg, Si, Ge, U, Pt, Fe and Bi.
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