Paper | Title | Page |
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MOPP080 | Studies of Breakdown in a Pressurized RF Cavity | 736 |
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Previous studies of RF breakdown in a cavity pressurized with dense hydrogen gas have indicated that breakdown probability is proportional to a high power of the surface electromagnetic field. This behavior is similar to the Fowler-Nordheim description of electron emission from a cold cathode, and it implies that breakdown is a quantum mechanical effect that is characterized by the work function of the cavity metal. We describe our present efforts to measure the distributions of work functions at the nanoscale level on the surfaces of the electrodes used in breakdown studies, and to understand how the RF conditioning process affects them. |