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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 liquid-metal ion emitters are noted.
M. D. Gabovich (Tue,) studied this question.