Boundary reflection from curved liquid surfaces and its application

• Published in: Optics communications 2007-07, Vol.275 (2), p.288-291
• Main Authors: Zhu, Feng, Miao, Runcai
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Boundary reflection; Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties; Curved liquid surface; Edge and boundary effects; reflection and refraction; Exact sciences and technology; Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications); Instruments, apparatus, components and techniques common to several branches of physics and astronomy; Interference; Interferometers; Laser technique; Optical instruments, equipment and techniques; Optical testing techniques; Optics; Physics; Solid-fluid interfaces; Surfaces and interfaces; thin films and whiskers (structure and nonelectronic properties); Wave optics; Wetting
• ISSN: 0030-4018; 1873-0310
• DOI: 10.1016/j.optcom.2007.03.037

A boundary light reflection from curved liquid surfaces was discovered. Due to the wetting effect, the liquid surface near the plate which was inserted into the liquid was deformed. When a collimated light beam vertically illumined the curved liquid surface, special reflective patterns of a strip-shape dark region in the center and the visibility interference fringes on both sides was observed for the up-curved liquid surface. The width of the dark region increases with the decreasing width of the incident beam. The relation of the dark region width and the incident beam width was derived theoretically. The slope and the height of curved liquid surface were obtained directly from measuring the dark central region width of the reflection pattern and the incident beam width. Furthermore, the analytic expression of the profile of the curved liquid surface was derived. As a result, it shows that an effective and practical technique for measuring the characterization of curved liquid surface was found.