Emission characteristics of an Au-Ge liquid metal ion source

摘要

A liquid metal ion source (LMIS), based on an Au 27 at % Ge eutectic alloy was investigated and the mass spectrum and angular distributions of different ion species determined. A strong influence of the total emission current and the angle withrespect to source axis on the mass spectrum was observed. The process of ion emission from the ion source was simulated and the virtual source size, beam spot size, and the energy and angular distributions of the ions estimated. The effect on the emission characteristics of Coulomb interaction between ions was also investigated.