Quasi-elastic ligth scattering from capillary waves at the liquid metal surface


Quasi-elastic ligth scattering from capillary waves at the liquid metal surface

Kolevzon, V.

Free surfaces of liquid gallium and mercury were studied by light scattering from thermally exited capillary waves. Great precautions were taken to prepare an oxide-free liquid metal surface inside a small evacuated container. Experimental results are shown in the form of q dependencies of the wave peak frequency wo and the damping constant ?. The observed damping constants of capillary waves differ greatly from those predicted by the classical theoretical treatment of Hg and Ga surfaces as those of simple liquids. This effect is explained in terms of the presence of a surface layer of highly correlated atoms accompanying the liquid-vapor transition. Viscoelastic properties of surface layer are extracted from the fit of experimental spectra with a theoretical form utilizing a well known phenomenological model. Results of the fit demonstrate that the surface viscosity appears to be negative. This implies that the widely used phenomenological model should be replaced by another one incorporating the Maxwell viscoelastic model. Special point has been made on studying the temperature dependence of the wave peak frequency at the free and oxidized Hg surface. This dependence emphasizes negative derivative of the surface tension d?/d? linked with the spatial distribution of free electrons being much
stronger temperature dependent than local surface ordering recently revealed at the mercury-vapor interface. In contrast, ?o(?) dependence collected at the Hg-HgO interface displayed two principally different tendencies: it increased steadily on the Hg surface covered with an oxide monolayer but was nearly constant at the surface covered with a polymolecular film of HgO. This behavior is discussed in the framework
of various theoretical models.

  • Other report
    Dissertation, TU Berlin, Juli 1997

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Publ.-Id: 1703