Abstract
Ionic liquid ion sources are a valuable technology for both focused ion beam and space propulsion applications. The efficiency of ionic liquid ion sources depends on the type of ions and clusters emitted. Mixing ionic liquids with lithium salts is demonstrated to alter source performance by changing the mass composition of the beam. The effects of different weight percentages of Li-BF4 salt mixed with EMI-BF4 are tested using time of flight mass spectrometry. For single electrospray emitters Li-BF4 salt is shown to increase the percentage of monomers in the beam. In full emitter arrays Li-BF4 is shown to facilitate emission of species containing lithium. The effect of the beam mass distribution on performance metrics including thrust, specific impulse, and efficiency are calculated from the experimental results. The addition of Li-BF4 dramatically in-creases total thrust for a full emitter array, with the maximum thrust achieved with 10% Li-BF4 by weight.
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