We study and use the behaviour of a metallic liquid drop in the presence of an external electric field (EF). The droplet profile is governed by the stabilizing surface energy and the destabilizing electrostatic energy, with a critical voltage beyond which the droplet becomes unstable. We explore the EF-induced behaviour of low melting temperature alloy in the liquid state and observe that the droplet modifications in the linear response regime can be retained upon cooling the drop to the solid state. We demonstrate that this procedure can be used as an electrode with precise dimensions for applications in molecular and polymer electronics. © 2009 The Royal Society.