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Updated: Feb 13, 2026

Total Internal Reflection Absorption Spectroscopy TIRAS for the Detection of Solvated Electrons at a Plasma-liquid Interface
Published on: January 24, 2018
X-ray reflectivity from curved liquid interfaces
Sven Festersen1, Stjepan B Hrkac1, Christian T Koops1
1Institute for Experimental and Applied Physics, Kiel University, Kiel, Germany.
Abstract:
X-ray reflectivity studies of the structure of liquid-vapour and liquid-liquid interfaces at modern sources, such as free-electron lasers, are currently impeded by the lack of dedicated liquid surface diffractometers. It is shown that this obstacle can be overcome by an alternative experimental approach that uses the natural curvature of a liquid drop for variation of the angle of incidence. Two modes of operation are shown: (i) sequential reflectivity measurements by a nanometre beam and (ii) parallel acquisition of large ranges of a reflectivity curve by micrometre beams. The feasibility of the two methods is demonstrated by studies of the Hg/vapour, H2O/vapour and Hg/0.1 M NaF interface. The obtained reflectivity curves match the data obtained by conventional techniques up to 5αc in micro-beam mode and up to 35αc in nano-beam mode, allowing observation of the Hg layering peak.
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