Measurement of dispersive forces between evaporated metal surfaces in the range below 100 nm

Abstract

In this work we describe dispersion force (van der Waals/Casimir) measurements between gold surfaces at separations as close as 12 nm. The force measurements were performed in the plane-sphere configuration by Atomic Force Microscopy at distances ranging between 12 and 200 nm. 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 100 nm 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.

14 pages, 3 figures

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• Universal experimental test for the role of free charge carriers in thermal Casimir effect within a micrometer separation range
• A way to measure the dispersion forces near the van der Waals-Casimir transition