Parts are on their way for the next and final test of the ILIS1! In order to tackle liquid creep failure, the housing has been modified to minimize any direct path between the emitter and extractor, and an additional shield electrode will be placed over the emitter surface.
Liquid creep failure has been the main cause of failure of the ILIS1 so far, especially at the excessively high voltages of up to +/-5kV that I have been operating at. Hopefully this new geometry will mitigate this, and pave the way for the new ILIS1.2 modified ridge emitter. If I confirm this new geometry modification to operate at full power at longer operating times, I may try manually modifying the ridge by grinding it sharper to see if I can enhance emission before I bite the bullet on the next ILIS1.2 iteration, which uses a sharper ridge.