THE STUDY OF LIQUID SURFACES BY NEUTRON REFLECTOMETRY

Neutron reflectometry has been applied to the study of liquid metal su rfaces and trial experiments have been made on the CRISP instrument at the ISIS neutron source at RAL Chilton. Preliminary results on liquid gallium are presented together with extensive simulations of the neut ron reflectivity profiles of candidate liquid metals and alloys. The o ptimum experimental conditions for the neutron technique and the ease with which surface relaxation and surface stratification may be observ ed have also been investigated.