Abstract

After the first observation [1] that keV ions are guided through insulating nano¬capillaries, the topic has received consid¬erable attention during the past decade. These capillaries are nanotubes with a diameter of about 100 nm and a length of about 10 µm. The essential property of the capillary guiding is a self-organizing process, which governs the charge deposition inside the capillaries [1,2]. With increasing deposition of the ions, the charge patch increases until the electrostatic field is large enough to deflect the ions. At equilibrium, the ions are guided maintaining their incident charge state.