High-brightness source for ion and electron beams (invited)

By controlled formation of nanoprotrusions on single-crystal tips of tungsten and iridium extremely bright beams of both ions and electrons were obtained. Specific brightness values range up to 1 TA/cm(2) srd eV which are considerably higher than those of previous source systems for charged particle emission. The physical mechanisms involved in the generation of these supertips will be outlined. The basic source properties were used to estimate the limiting image size and the obtainable target current-densities. Some of the most important applications of ion and electron beams are considered for materials modification and analysis. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics.