Structure in the Density Profile at the Liquid-Metal-Vapor Interface

Abstract

This paper presents the results of Monte Carlo simulations of a pseudoatom model of the liquid-metal-vapor interface. The surface density profile is found to have stable density oscillations, with spacing about one atomic diameter, extending several layers into the bulk liquid. This effect is ascribed to the presence of the "structure-independent" electronic energy, which is characteristic of simple metals, in the effective Hamiltonian for the classical pseudoatoms.