Warren R. Ronk, Daniel V. Kowalski, Michelle Manning, and Gilbert M. Nathanson Department of Chemistry,

University of Wisconsin, 1101 University Avenue, Madison, Wisconsin 53706-1322

(Received 22 September 1995; accepted I I November 1995)

The surface rigidity and corrugation of the liquid metals indium, gallium, and bismuth are investigated by scattering neon, argon, and xenon from each liquid. The inert gas fractional energy transfers and trapping-desorption fractions are much lower for these atomic liquids than for molecular fluids, reflecting the high mass densities and high surface tensions of the liquid metals. The peak energy transfer at a 55" specular angle can be predicted by using hard sphere collision mechanics and by estimating the mass ratio u=mgas/msurf by 0.28±0.02 A_ 1) (Pgas/Pliq), where Pgas is the mass per cross-sectional area of the gas atom and Pliq is the bulk metal density. The specular scattering intensity decreases as the liquid's temperature increases at a fractional rate approximately equal to - 1/(2Tiq). The intensity appears to scale nearly inversely with the amplitude of the surface.