  We investigate the behaviour of electric fields originating from adsorbates
deposited on a cryogenic atom chip as it is cooled from room temperature to
cryogenic temperature. Using Rydberg electromagnetically induced transparency
we measure the field strength versus distance from a 1 mm square of YBCO
patterned onto a YSZ chip substrate. We find a localized and stable dipole
field at room temperature and attribute it to a saturated layer of chemically
adsorbed rubidium atoms on the YBCO. As the chip is cooled towards 83 K we
observe a change in sign of the electric field as well as a transition from a
localized to a delocalized dipole density. We relate these changes to the onset
of physisorption on the chip surface when the van der Waals attraction
overcomes the thermal desorption mechanisms. Our findings suggest that, through
careful selection of substrate materials, it may be possible to reduce the
electric fields caused by atomic adsorption on chips, opening up experiments to
controlled Rydberg-surface coupling schemes.
