Construction of a grazing incidence x-ray reflection system for liquid-vapor interfaces by use of an imaging plate

We have constructed a grazing incidence x-ray reflection system for liquid-vapor interfaces by use of an imaging plate as an area detector. The reflectivity data were obtained with high resolution even by use of a conventional x-ray tube. The surface reflectivity measurements for pure water, ethanol and 2-butoxyethanol were performed and the values of the surface roughness were obtained as 4.1±0.1, 7.1±0.3 and 6.2±0.2 A, respectively. For water, slight broadening of reflection peaks was observed. This was caused by the surface curvature due to the large surface tension. By fitting the reflection profiles, the radius of curvature was found to be nearly 100 m for water and ten times larger for ethanol and 2-butoxyethanol.