Related papers: Proximity effect on hydrodynamic interaction betwe…
The normal field instability in magnetic liquids is investigated experimentally by means of a radioscopic technique which allows a precise measurement of the surface topography. The dependence of the topography on the magnetic field is…
We derive the leading-order correction to the proximity force approximation (PFA) result for the electromagnetic Casimir interaction in the plane-sphere geometry by developing the scattering approach in the plane-wave basis. Expressing the…
It has been shown recently [PRL 102, 254503 (2009)] that in the plane-plane configuration a mechanical resonator vibrating close to a rigid wall in a simple fluid can be overdamped to a frozen regime. Here, by solving analytically the…
We present a falling-sphere viscometer with a magnetized sphere and fluxgate magnetometers continuously measuring the magnetic field produced at the sensor positions by the falling sphere. With a fluid volume of 15 ml and within a few…
We report on progress in developing compact sensors for atomic force microscopy (AFM), in which the mechanical transducer is integrated with near-field optical readout on a single chip. The motion of a nanoscale, doubly-clamped cantilever…
The use of electrophoretic forces to tune friction at material-nanoparticle-liquid interfaces with static or low frequency (0.6-50 mHz) electric fields is reported for the first time. External electric fields were employed to reposition…
Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) methods utilizing resonant mechanical vibrations of cantilevers in contact with a sample surface have shown sensitivities as high as few picometers for detecting surface displacements. Such a high sensitivity…
Non-contact interaction between two parallel flat surfaces is a central paradigm in sciences. This situation is the starting point for a wealth of different models: the capacitor description in electrostatics, hydrodynamic flow, thermal…
We study the behavior of very thin liquid films wetting homogeneous planar and spherical substrates. In order to describe a simple fluid at very small scales, we employ a classical density functional theory (DFT). Here, we model a fluid…
Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) allows to probe matter at atomic scale by measuring the perturbation of a nanomechanical oscillator induced by near-field interaction forces. The quest to improve sensitivity and resolution of AFM has forced…
We report on a new method to characterize nano-hydrodynamic properties at the liquid/solid interface relying solely on the measurement of the thermal motion of confined colloids. Using Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy (FCS) to probe…
We analyze recent experiments on measuring the thermal Casimir force with account of possible background effects. Special attention is paid to the validity of the proximity force approximation (PFA) used in the comparison between the…
In the Tapping mode, a variation of the oscillation amplitude and phase as a function of the tip sample distance is the necessary measurement to access quantitatively to the properties of the surface. In the present work, we give a…
We study experimentally and theoretically the equilibrium adhesive contact between a smooth glass lens and a rough rubber surface textured with spherical microasperities with controlled height and spatial distributions. Measurements of the…
The motion of submerged magnetic microspheres rolling at a glass-water interface has been studied using magnetic rotation and optical tweezers combined with bright-field microscopy particle tracking techniques. Individual microspheres of…
Mesoscopic particles immersed in a critical fluid experience long-range Casimir forces due to critical fluctuations. Using field theoretical methods, we investigate the Casimir interaction between two spherical particles and between a…
This paper reports on the frictional properties of smooth rubber substrates sliding against rigid surfaces covered with various densities of colloidal nano-particles (average diameter 77 nm). Friction experiments were carried out using a…
Fundamental mechanisms of energy storage, corrosion, sensing, and multiple biological functionalities are directly coupled to electrical processes and ionic dynamics at solid-liquid interfaces. In many cases, these processes are spatially…
Tapping mode atomic force microscopy is a standard technique for inspection and analysis at the nanometer scale. The understanding of the non-linear dynamics of the system due to the tip sample interaction is an important prerequisite for a…
The fundamental role of hydrophobic interactions in nature and technology has motivated decades long research aimed at measuring the distance-dependent hydrophobic force and identifying its origin. This quest has nevertheless proved more…