S. Sh. Rekhviashvili, B. A. Rozenberg, V. V. Dremov, “Influence of the size-dependent surface tension of a liquid film on a capillary force in an atomic force microscope”, Pis'ma v Zh. Èksper. Teoret. Fiz., 2008, Volume 88, Issue 11,Pages <nobr>887

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Influence of the size-dependent surface tension of a liquid film on a capillary force in an atomic force microscope

S. Sh. Rekhviashvili^a, B. A. Rozenberg^b, V. V. Dremov^c

^a Kabardino-Balkar State University, ul. Chernyshevskogo 173, Nalchik, 360004, Russia
^b Institute of Problems of Chemical Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Chernogolovka, Moscow region, 142432, Russia
^c Institute of Microelectronic Technology and Ultra-High-Purity Materials, Russian Academy of Sciences, Chernogolovka, Moscow region, 142432, Russia

Abstract: An adsorbed water film always exists between the sample and the probing tip of an atomic force microscope operating at atmospheric conditions. A new expression for the capillary force that acts between the tip and the thin liquid film has been obtained taking into account the size dependence of the surface tension of the liquid described by an exact solution of the Gibbs-Tolman-Koenig-Buff equation. The calculation agrees fairly well with the experimental results.

PACS: 07.79.Lh, 68.37.Ps

Received: 02.09.2008
Revised: 14.10.2008