Nanowires with well defined radii formed in operating liquid metal ion sources (LMIS)

For some elements such as germanium or tin, the mass spectra of ions emitted by liquid metal ion sources (LMIS) exhibit periodicities, i.e. series of equidistant peaks with an increase, ν, in the number of atoms between two peaks. We attribute it to the existence of jets in operating LMIS, the upper part of them being cylinders with ν-atom sections. The Ge_6m+1³⁺ and Sn_6m+1³⁺, m=3 to 8, and Ge_6m+4³⁺, m= 9 to 14, observed ions can be explained by this mechanism, here ν=6. We extend this mechanism to bismuth and gold and, in this last case, it allows the interpretation of a yet unexplained Au₈³⁺ ion.