Accurate Measurements of Dielectric and Optical Functions of Liquid Water and Liquid Benzene in the VUV Region (1–100 eV) Using Small-Angle Inelastic X-ray Scattering

What is it about?

Using a third-generation synchrotron source, inelastic X-ray scattering spectra of liquid water and liquid benzene were measured at energy losses of 1−100 eV with 0.24 eV resolution for small momentum transfers (q) of 0.23 and 0.32 au with ±0.06 au uncertainty for q.

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Why is it important?

Electronic excitation in molecular liquids by photons, electrons, or a combination of these particles is of fundamental importance in a variety of scientific fields, including radiation physics, radiation chemistry, and radiation biology. Such excitation affects the dielectric and optical properties of liquids and characterizes their electronic responses to incident radiation. Despite their importance, the above functions for molecular liquids have not yet been fully explored above ∼7 eV, even for chemically and biologically significant liquids. In our previous studies, we obtained several dielectric and optical functions through inelastic X-ray scattering (IXS) measurements. but their statistical uncertainties are not negligible. In this paper, the IXS spectra for liquid water and liquid benzene were remeasured with a highly improved signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio, and the dielectric and optical functions in the VUV region were more accurately rederived.