In spite of the fact that a great deal of research has been carried out on
liquid metal ion sources, surprisingly few results exist on the temperature
dependence of their electric characteristics. In this article we study two
liquid metal alloy ion sources (LMAISs), namely Co36Nd64 and Au77Ge14Si9.
While the results of the former alloy were as expected, the latter displaye
d an entirely different dependence of its electric characteristics on tempe
rature. The unusual results of the Au77Ge14Si9 LMAIS are explained in terms
of the abnormal behaviour of its surface tension coefficient with temperat
ure.