| Source type | General properties | Ion species |
| Liquid metal ion sources | Virtual source size 10–20 nm Typical pattern res 10–20 nm Typical beam currents up to a few nA for Ga and up to 10–100 pA for most other species Very good long-term stability and lifetime for Ga, improving performance for well-known systems like AuSi and AuGe Sputter yield mostly medium to large | Available: Ga, Au, Si, Ge Also exist: Ag, Al, As, B, Be, Bi, C, Ce, Co, Cr, Cs, Cu, Dy, Er, Fe, Hg, In, K, Li, Mg, Mn, Na, Nb, Nd, Ni, P, Pb, Pd, Pr, Pt, Rb, Sb, Sm, Sn, U, Y, Zn |
| Gas field-ionization sources | Virtual source size below 2 nm (He, Ne) Typical pattern res 5–10 nm Typical beam currents up to 10 pA Limited stability and lifetime Sputter yield mostly small to medium | Available: He, Ne Also exist: H, Ar |
| Plasma sources | Virtual source size ~10 µm Typical pattern res 100 nm–1 µm Typical beam currents up to a few µA Good stability Sputter yield mostly medium to large | Available: Ar, Xe Also exist: H, He, N, O |
|
|