A variable-temperature pulsed high-voltage system has been constructed and a series of high-field measurements on copper electrodes have been carried out. The measurements are made at ambient to cryogenic temperatures and include conditioning, breakdown threshold, and field emission. A significant, up to 50%, increase in the breakdown threshold and remarkable stability of field emission are observed when cooled to cryogenic temperatures compared to room temperature. These results provide important experimental input for the development of quantitative theories and models of high-field processes as well as practical input for cryogenic radio-frequency systems.

• Received 1 July 2020
• Revised 16 September 2020
• Accepted 3 December 2020

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.14.061002

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Published by the American Physical Society