STRUCTURES OF LIQUID-METAL SURFACES AND THE SPECULAR REFLECTION OF FAST ELECTRONS

In this contribution we seek for the possiblity of deducing the atomic density profiles of liquid metal surfaces from the reflection high energy electron diffraction (RHEED) experiments. For this purpose, we have calculated the glancing angle dependence of the specularly reflected intensity of fast electrons for assumed atomic density profiles. Comparisons of these results with the RHEED experiments suggest that monotone density profiles are plausible for both In and Sn in contrast to the previous results for other metals obtained by the Monte Carlo simulations and the X-ray reflection experiments. It is also found that the surface width of Sn is much larger than that of In. © 1990.