Technique of surface-wave scattering and calibration with simple liquids

Abstract

Heterodyne detection of light scattered from capillary waves is used to study the surface properties of the air–liquid interface. A diffraction grating is employed to select a precise ripplon wave vector k and to provide a stable local oscillator field. The optics are designed to form a real image of the grating on the surface, thus allowing the measurements to be reproducible within 5%. The power spectrum detected in frequency domain is well fitted by a Lorentzian profile for the range of ripplon wave vectors 260≤k≤390 cm⁻¹. The shape of the scattered spectra at each wave vector is corrected for the incident beam profile by effecting a convolution of the Lorentzian and Gaussian functional forms. The surface tensions and the kinematic viscosities of water, anisole, and ethanol are deduced from the ripplon dispersion relation corrected to the first order in damping, and found to be within 5% of the literature values. Thus we confirm the validity of approximations made for the instrumental function and the dispersion relation.