Browsing by Author "Gutt, C."

We measure the dispersion relation of capillary waves on a liquid surface by heterodyne x-ray photon correlation spectroscopy near the transition from propagating to overdamped dynamic behavior. A strong deviation of the propagation frequency from the small-damping result omega(p) proportional, variant k(3/2) is observed long before the actual transition where ( partial differential omega(p)/ partial differential k)<0 and omega(p) tends to zero. This behavior is successfully described by expressions derived within linear response theory.

We report measurements of propagating capillary waves on a liquid water surface at T=5 degrees C with x-ray photon correlation spectroscopy. The experiment has been performed under grazing incidence conditions with an incoming x-ray beam below the critical angle of total external reflection. In the q region investigated the measured intensity-intensity autocorrelation functions of the liquid water surface were found to be heterodyne signals, i.e., a combination of first- and second-order correlation functions g(1)(tau) and g(2)(tau).

We studied the surface structure of thin liquid films vapor deposited on solid substrates in a partial wetting situation by means of coherent x-ray scattering. No dynamics has been observed showing the absence of capillary waves on liquid films partially wetting a substrate. Instead an exponential form of the height-height correlation function has been found pointing toward a solidlike behavior of the thin liquid films at large length scales. The exact surface structure and degree of replication with the substrate depend on the deposition rate of the molecules.

We present X-ray reflectivity investigations of the concentration distribution in binary liquid thin films on silicon substrates. The liquid-vapor coexistence of the binary mixture investigated, hexane and perfluorohexane, is far from criticality. Therefore, a sharp interface separates the liquid film from the vapor. The data reveal a separation of the film in layers parallel to the substrate. A phase diagram is constructed as a projection to the (composition difference, temperature) space, covering a temperature range corresponding to the one-phase and the two-phase regime of the bulk liquid. Although the composition data indicate a mixing gap similar to that of the bulk system, there are two major differences: i) only the near-surface phase changes its composition significantly, and ii) a composition gradient in the film exists also at higher temperatures where in the bulk system the one-phase regime exists.

We present an x-ray reflectivity study of molecularly thin films of liquid isobutane adsorbed on liquid glycerol. The glycerol-isobutane interface serves as a model system to investigate the influence of the substrate adsorbate interactions on both adsorption isotherms and capillary wave fluctuations. The measured surface roughness is smaller than expected from the harmonic approximation of the interaction potential. Expressions for the surface roughness in slightly anharmonic potentials are given and compared to the experimental data. A good agreement between data and theory is achieved.

We report on in situ x-ray reflectivity measurements of the surface roughness of supercooled glass forming polymers in a temperature range from 190 to 330 K. The experimentally determined rms roughness has been found to obey the capillary wave model of a single liquid/vapor interface over the entire temperature range. An expression for the surface roughness below the bulk glass transition (T(G) approximately equal to 200 K) is deduced from the viscoelastic theory of surface fluctuations; however, no indication of a frozen-in surface roughness has been observed in the experiment. Additionally, it is shown that precise values of the surface tension of highly viscous liquids in the supercooled state can be determined by x-ray reflectivity.

X-ray photon-correlation spectroscopy is used to measure the dynamic structure factor f(q,tau) of gold particles moving on the surface of thin polymer films. Above the glass transition of the polymer the peculiar form f(q,tau) approximately exp[-(Gamma tau)(alpha)] is found with 0.7 < alpha < 1.5, depending on sample age and temperature. The relaxation rates Gamma scale linearly with q, excluding a simple Brownian diffusive motion. This type of behavior, already observed in aging bulk soft matter systems, is explained by a power law distribution of particle velocities due to ballistic motion.