Parametric investigation of current pulses in a liquid metal ion emitter

The presence of current pulses superimposed on the dc level of the ion current in liquid metal ion sources has been known for a long time. This work investigates the behaviour of the pulses for varying temperature and working liquid metal. Attempts are made to explain the differences observed in the threshold current for the appearance of the pulses and also in their terminal, or saturation, frequency. Differences are also found between sources using the same working metal, although the pulse appearance threshold current is the same for a given metal.
The experimental results indicate that a low source operating temperature is desirable if droplet emission is to be minimized.