{
  "abstract": "High-field conditioning is the process by which radio-frequency structures in particle accelerators and other high-gradient devices reach their operating fields, yet the underlying physical mechanism remains an open question. Models and indirect measurements point to subsurface dislocation dynamics, but large-area structural measurements have been missing. We present electron backscatter diffraction measurements spanning millimeter-scale regions on a copper cathode conditioned at pulsed direct-current fields up to $\\sim$80~MV/m in a sloped-anode geometry, which imposes a known gradient of field exposure across a single electrode. Across nine regions of interest spanning this exposure range, the mean intragrain misorientation of field-exposed regions exceeds that of unexposed references by $\\sim$75\\%; the difference is reproduced by three independent misorientation metrics and confirmed by Kolmogorov--Smirnov tests. To our knowledge, this is the first large-area observation of structural differences between conditioned and unconditioned regions of a high-field electrode. The misorientation separates into three tiers (high-field center and edge, low-field periphery, and unexposed reference) that match the spatial profile of the conditioning-state variable $E_S$ predicted by Monte Carlo simulations. These observations point to the evolving subsurface dislocation population as a candidate physical basis of conditioning.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": "2606.19192",
  "author_total": 5,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Yinon Ashkenazy"
    },
    {
      "name": "Inna Popov"
    },
    {
      "name": "Victoria M. Bjelland"
    },
    {
      "name": "William L. Millar"
    },
    {
      "name": "Walter Wuensch"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/6jemgtknq23k2.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.48550/arxiv.2606.19192",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "6jemgtknq23k2",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.19192",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "arxiv",
      "cond-mat.mtrl-sci"
    ],
    [
      "arxiv",
      "physics.acc-ph"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": null,
  "pdf_url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2606.19192",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-09-29",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/6jemgtknq23k2.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:25:48Z",
      "native_id": "2606.19192",
      "source": "arxiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.19192"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:physics.acc-ph",
      "subfield": "applied-instrumentation"
    },
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:cond-mat.mtrl-sci",
      "subfield": "condensed-matter"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Direct large-area observation of subsurface plastic activity in conditioned copper electrodes",
  "title_text": "Direct large-area observation of subsurface plastic activity in conditioned copper electrodes",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:25:48Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/6jemgtknq23k2",
  "venue": "arXiv",
  "versions": []
}