X‐ray studies of the thickness and roughness of thin adsorbed fluid layers

This paper is a brief summary of a talk delivered at the “Discussion Meeting on Phase Transitions at Interfaces”, Bad Herrenalb, Germany in September 1993 on the application of synchrotron X‐ray scattering to the study of liquid surfaces. More complete discussion of much of this material can be found in the publications cited in the manuscript. The oral presentation was concerned with the application of X‐ray specular reflectivity to study structure of the liquid/vapor interface for various liquids, including superfluid4He, liquid gallium and thin liquid wetting layers of classical liquids adsorbed on solid surfaces. The effects that correlations between the height fluctuations on the top and bottom surfaces of thin adsorbed liquids have on the reflectivity and diffuse scattering from thin films will be discussed.