Optical properties of liquid and solid zirconium

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Abstract
The optical properties of pure liquid and solid zirconium were investigated in the energy range 1.2–3.5 eV. Zirconium specimens were electromagnetically levitated and melted (melting point 2125 K), and purified of residual oxide and nitride contaminants by heating to temperatures above 2400 K. An automated dual-detector rotating analyzer ellipsometer with a pulsed dye laser light source was employed to measure the optical properties. Measurements were obtained over the full energy range at ca. 2335 K and for selected wavelengths at temperatures from 1850–2600 K, including measurements on the undercooled liquid. Liquid zirconium exhibited sharp peaks in the optical conductivity at 1.39 and 1.55 eV, with 0.1 eV half-widths. Broader maxima occurred at approximately 2.1 and 2.9 eV and appeared to contain additional unresolved structure. Measurements on retrieved solid specimens showed some agreement with prior results on zirconium. Liquid zirconium exhibits greater structure in its optical property dependence on wavelength than does the polycrystalline solid and some similarity to the results of theoretical calculations for single-crystal zirconium.