Fabrication of nanoscale Ga balls via a Coulomb explosion of microscale silica-covered Ga balls by TEM electron-beam irradiation

Nanoscale Ga particles down to 5 nm were fabricated by an explosion via an in situ electron-beam irradiation on microscale silica-covered Ga balls in a transmission electron microscope. The explosion is confirmed to be a Coulomb explosion because it occurs on the surface rather than in the whole body of the insulating silica-covered Ga micro-balls, and on the pure Ga nano-balls on the edge of carbon film. The ejected particles in the explosion increase their sizes with increasing irradiation time until the stop of the explosion, but decrease their sizes with increasing distance from the original ball. The Coulomb explosion suggests a novel method to fabricate nanoscale metal particles with low melting point.