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Direct measurement of critical Casimir forces

Author

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  • C. Hertlein

    (2. Physikalisches Institut, Universität Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 57, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany)

  • L. Helden

    (2. Physikalisches Institut, Universität Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 57, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany)

  • A. Gambassi

    (Max-Planck-Institut für Metallforschung, Heisenbergstrasse 3, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany
    Institut für Theoretische und Angewandte Physik, Pfaffenwaldring 57, Universität Stuttgart)

  • S. Dietrich

    (Max-Planck-Institut für Metallforschung, Heisenbergstrasse 3, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany
    Institut für Theoretische und Angewandte Physik, Pfaffenwaldring 57, Universität Stuttgart)

  • C. Bechinger

    (2. Physikalisches Institut, Universität Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 57, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany)

Abstract

When fluctuating fields are confined between two surfaces, long-range forces arise. A famous example is the quantum-electrodynamical Casimir force that results from zero-point vacuum fluctuations confined between two conducting metal plates1. A thermodynamic analogue is the critical Casimir force: it acts between surfaces immersed in a binary liquid mixture close to its critical point and arises from the confinement of concentration fluctuations within the thin film of fluid separating the surfaces2. So far, all experimental evidence for the existence of this effect has been indirect3,4,5. Here we report the direct measurement of critical Casimir force between a single colloidal sphere and a flat silica surface immersed in a mixture of water and 2,6-lutidine near its critical point. We use total internal reflection microscopy to determine in situ the forces between the sphere and the surface, with femtonewton resolution6. Depending on whether the adsorption preferences of the sphere and the surface for water and 2,6-lutidine are identical or opposite, we measure attractive and repulsive forces, respectively, that agree quantitatively with theoretical predictions and exhibit exquisite dependence on the temperature of the system. We expect that these features of critical Casimir forces may result in novel uses of colloids as model systems.

Suggested Citation

  • C. Hertlein & L. Helden & A. Gambassi & S. Dietrich & C. Bechinger, 2008. "Direct measurement of critical Casimir forces," Nature, Nature, vol. 451(7175), pages 172-175, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:451:y:2008:i:7175:d:10.1038_nature06443
    DOI: 10.1038/nature06443
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Piet J. M. Swinkels & Zhe Gong & Stefano Sacanna & Eva G. Noya & Peter Schall, 2023. "Visualizing defect dynamics by assembling the colloidal graphene lattice," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-9, December.
    2. Li Tian & Clemens Bechinger, 2022. "Surface melting of a colloidal glass," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-5, December.
    3. Gnan, Nicoletta, 2023. "Lecture notes of the 15th international summer school on Fundamental Problems in Statistical Physics: Colloidal dispersions," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 631(C).
    4. Gan Wang & Piotr Nowakowski & Nima Farahmand Bafi & Benjamin Midtvedt & Falko Schmidt & Agnese Callegari & Ruggero Verre & Mikael Käll & S. Dietrich & Svyatoslav Kondrat & Giovanni Volpe, 2024. "Nanoalignment by critical Casimir torques," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-10, December.
    5. Joep Rouwhorst & Christopher Ness & Simeon Stoyanov & Alessio Zaccone & Peter Schall, 2020. "Nonequilibrium continuous phase transition in colloidal gelation with short-range attraction," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 11(1), pages 1-8, December.
    6. Kanth, Jampa Maruthi Pradeep & Anishetty, Ramesh, 2013. "Hydrophobic force, a Casimir-like effect due to hydrogen-bond fluctuations," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 392(20), pages 4804-4823.
    7. Chi Zhang & José Muñetón Díaz & Augustin Muster & Diego R. Abujetas & Luis S. Froufe-Pérez & Frank Scheffold, 2024. "Determining intrinsic potentials and validating optical binding forces between colloidal particles using optical tweezers," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-9, December.
    8. Marloes H. Bistervels & Balázs Antalicz & Marko Kamp & Hinco Schoenmaker & Willem L. Noorduin, 2023. "Light-driven nucleation, growth, and patterning of biorelevant crystals using resonant near-infrared laser heating," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-9, December.
    9. Dantchev, Daniel & Vassilev, Vassil M. & Djondjorov, Peter A., 2018. "Analytical results for the Casimir force in a Ginzburg–Landau type model of a film with strongly adsorbing competing walls," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 510(C), pages 302-315.

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