2007/12/19 by P. J. van Zwol, G. Palasantzas, M. van de Schootbrugge +1
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics #Cantilever #Casimir effect #Classical mechanics #Composite material #Dispersion (optics) #Geometry #London dispersion force #Materials science #Molecular physics #Optics #Physics #Plane (geometry) #Quantum Electrodynamics and Casimir Effect #Range (aeronautics) #Surface finish #Surface roughness #Thermal Radiation and Cooling Technologies #Thermodynamics #Work (physics) #cond-mat.mtrl-sci #van der Waals force
paper · pdf · doi:10.1063/1.2832664
14 pages, 3 figures
arxiv created 2007/12/19 · openalex publication_date 2008/02/04 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
In this work, we describe dispersion force (van der Waals/Casimir) measurements between gold surfaces at separations as close as 12nm. The force measurements were performed in the plane-sphere configuration by atomic force microscopy at distances ranging between 12 and 200nm. This was accomplished by using evaporated smooth metal surfaces for both sphere and plane, and stiff cantilevers to minimize jump-to-contact problems. Finally, it is shown that below separations of 100nm, experiment and theory are found in agreement within 10% by including in the theory the measured optical properties of gold and contribution from surface roughness.