Electric charging effects on insulating surfaces in cryogenic liquids.

This paper presents a new technique to study the adsorption and desorption of ions and electrons on insulating surfaces in the presence of strong electric fields in cryoliquids. The experimental design consists of a compact cryostat coupled with a sensitive electro-optical Kerr device to monitor the stability of the electric fields. The behavior of nitrogen and helium ions on a poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) surface was compared to a PMMA surface coated with a mixture of deuterated polystyrene and deuterated polybutadiene.