The optical properties of liquid cerium at 632.8 nm

The normal, spectral emissivity, epsilon (lambda)(T), and optical constants , n and k, of liquid cerium were measured at 632.8 nm over a temperature ra nge of 1700-2130 K using rotating analyzer ellipsometry. The cerium was ele ctromagnetically levitated to prevent contamination of the liquid metal by contact with a container and purified by vaporization of volatile oxides at high temperature. The emissivity at 0.9 mum and 1900 K was determined from the brightness temperature. The solubility of oxygen in liquid cerium at 1 786 K was estimated and the effect of oxygen on the optical properties was demonstrated. Using available thermodynamic data and assumptions of ideal s olution behavior, the volatilization of oxygen and nitrogen impurities is d iscussed. At 1786 K, the solubility of oxygen in liquid cerium is between 3 and 7 atom percent. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.