Temperature dependence of the electric characteristics of liquid metal alloy ion sources

In spite of the fact that a great deal of research has been carried out on liquid metal ion sources, surprisingly few results exist on the temperature dependence of their electric characteristics. In this article we study two liquid metal alloy ion sources (LMAISs), namely Co36Nd64 and Au77Ge14 Si9. While the results of the former alloy were as expected, the latter displayed an entirely different dependence of its electric characteristics on temperature. The unusual results of the Au77Ge14Si9 LMAIS are explained in terms of the abnormal behaviour of its surface tension coefficient with temperature.