Electronic Properties of Liquid Water in the Vacuum Ultraviolet

L. Robinson Painter; R. N. Hamm; E. T. Arakawa; R. D. Birkhoff

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.21.282

Electronic Properties of Liquid Water in the Vacuum Ultraviolet

L. Robinson Painter, R. N. Hamm, E. T. Arakawa, and R. D. Birkhoff

Phys. Rev. Lett. 21, 282 – Published 29 July 1968

Abstract

Reflectance of liquid water has been measured between 1050 and 3000 Å by two methods, one with the water in an open dish in equilibrium with its vapor and one with a Ca $F_{2}$ or quartz cell. Real and imaginary parts of the index of refraction and dielectric constant, deduced from the data and Fresnel's equations, suggest an exciton transition at 8.3 eV, an interband transition at 9.6 eV, and a band gap of 9 eV.

Received 15 May 1968

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.21.282

Authors & Affiliations

L. Robinson Painter^*, R. N. Hamm, E. T. Arakawa, and R. D. Birkhoff^†

Health Physics Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830

^*This work is based on a thesis submitted by one of us (L.R.P.) in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Ph. D. degree at the University of Tennessee. This author was supported during a portion of this research on a U. S. Atomic Energy Commission Health Physics Fellowship and is presently a consultant for Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
^†Professor of Physics, part-time, University of Tennessee.