Physics – Condensed Matter – Soft Condensed Matter
Scientific paper
2007-11-09
Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 106103 (2008)
Physics
Condensed Matter
Soft Condensed Matter
Scientific paper
10.1103/PhysRevLett.100.106103
Micron-sized objects confined in thin liquid films interact through forces mediated by the deformed liquid-air interface. This capillary interactions provide a powerful driving mechanism for the self-assembly of ordered structures such as photonic materials or protein crystals. Direct probing of capillary interactions requires a controlled force field to independently manipulate small objects while avoiding any physical contact with the interface. We demonstrate how optical micro-manipulation allows the direct measurement of capillary interactions between two micron sized spheres in a free standing liquid film. The force falls off as an inverse power law in particles separation. We derive and validate an explicit expression for this exponent whose magnitude is mainly governed by particles size. For micron-sized objects we found an exponent close to, but smaller than one, making capillary interactions a unique example of strong and very long ranged forces in the mesoscopic world.
Di Leonardo Roberto
Ruocco Giancarlo
Saglimbeni F.
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