Capillary waves in slow motion - art. no. 073409

Capillary wave dynamics on glycerol surfaces has been investigated by means of x-ray photon correlation spectroscopy performed at grazing angles. The measurements show that thermally activated capillary wave motion is slowed down exponentially when the sample is cooled below 273 K. This finding dire ctly reflects the freezing of the surface waves. The wave-number dependence of the measured time constants is in quantitative agreement with theoretic al predictions for overdamped capillary waves.