The optical properties of liquid metals

The optical constants of the liquid metals Cu, Au, Hg, Ga, Al, Sn, Pb, Bi and of the Cu-Sn binary alloy system have been measured by an ellipsometric method at wavelengths, mainly in the infra-red region, of up to 8 pm and at temperatures up to 1200°C. The results arc compared with those obtained by previous workers at shorter wavelengths, mainly in the visible. Except in the case of Hg they arc in satisfactory agreement with theoretical predictions based upon the nearly-free-electron model.