Atomic scale dynamics of surfaces under high electric field

High electric fields change the electronic and inter-atomic dynamics of surfaces, inducing biased atomic diffusion and evaporation, electron and ion emission, and vacuum arcs. These effects are useful in various applications, but uncontrollable and detrimental in many others. Technological advancements in either direction require a deep understanding of the underlying physics. We study the atomic dynamics of metal surfaces under high electric fields based on ab-initio-trained machine learning techniques and in-situ experiments that integrate surface exposure to high electric fields with electron microscopy. The provided insights shall induce breakthroughs in understanding the physics and mitigating vacuum arcs, with a major impact on power grids, particle accelerators, electron microscopy, and X-ray sources. Significant advancements are expected in nanotechnology such as field-induced nanofabrication, memristors for neuromorphic computing, as well as ion sources for quantum computers.