This article describes and discusses the fundamental laws of ion emission from liquid-metal tips in a strong electric field. The widespread views of a liquid-metal emitter as being the smoothed tip of a Taylor cone are examined critically. The instability of a liquid metal in an electric field is discussed, and in line with this, an alternative concept is given of a sharp-tipped electrohydrodynamic emitter. The prospects for applying liquidmetal ion emitters are noted.

TY JOUR
TI Liquid-metal ion emitters
AU Gabovich, M. D.
PB Physics-Uspekhi
PY 1983
JO Physics-Uspekhi
JF Physics-Uspekhi
JA Phys. Usp.
VL 26
IS 5
SP 447-455
UR https://ufn.ru/en/articles/1983/5/d/
ER https://doi.org/10.1070/PU1983v026n05ABEH004407