Charge emission and decay dynamics of highly charged clusters and micro-droplets

Abstract In the present contribution we discuss the charge emission, the limit of stability as well as the role of quadrupole deformations in coulomb instabilities occurring in small charged objects. These are nano-systems, like highly charged sodium clusters with a diameter of about 50 nm, containing around 250 atoms as well as micro-systems, like micro-droplets of ethylene glycol with a diameter of 50 μm, containing of the order of 10 12 glycol molecules. The experiments show that in the first case the internal energy limits the region of stability due to thermally activated fission processes, whereas it is unimportant for micro-droplets. In the latter case, the validity of the Rayleigh limit could be established for the first time experimentally. Furthermore, the different decay processes are discussed.