1972.04.04《Measurement of van der Waals Dispersion Forces in the Range 1.4 to 130nm》

在《Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. A Mathematical and Physical Sciences》和《Nature Physical Science》在同一天发表的研究中，在人类科学史上首次实现了范德华作用力的测量，这同样也是英国剑桥大学卡文迪许实验室的又一具有划时代意义的“诺贝尔奖”级别的工作。这在当时来看属于绝对爆炸性的科学新闻，两个国际顶级的期刊在同一天分别以长文和短文的方式发表，足以证明该工作的意义有多么令人振奋。工作指出在原创构建的高精度表面力测量体系下，2至12nm的范围内，力完全不受延迟。对于大于12nm的分离，相互作用的幂律增加到2.0以上，到50nm时达到2.9。在实验范围内证明了非延迟力和延迟力之间的转变是发生在12nm和50nm之间。并且在50nm以外的地方，结论同样能够与经典DLVO力学理论匹配上。上述实验结果在纳米尺度上定量表征了范德华吸引力，证实其在中远程作用区间内遵循经典理论预测，从而将范德华力从理论假设转变为可被直接观测、精确量化的物理事实。总体而言，该研究不仅首次在实验室层面实现了范德华力的精准测量，至此开创了表面力学的实验时代，从而打开了近现代分子力学研究的大门，奠定了近现代表面力科学与界面物理研究的根基。

第一作者：JACOB N. ISRAELACHVILI

通讯作者：JACOB N. ISRAELACHVILI

In a study published on the same day in Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. A Mathematical and Physical Sciences and Nature Physical Science, the measurement of van der Waals forces were achieved for the first time in the history of human science. This is also another groundbreaking work at the Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge, UK, at the level of a Nobel Prize. At the time, this was considered an absolutely explosive scientific news, published in two top international journals on the same day in both long and short articles, which was enough to prove how exciting the significance of this work was. The work points out that under the original high-precision surface force measurement system, there is no delay in force within the range of 2 to 12nm. For separations larger than 12nm, the power law of interaction increases to 2.0 or above, reaching 2.9 at 50nm. It has been demonstrated within the experimental scope that the transition between non delayed force and delayed force occurs between 12nm and 50nm. And beyond 50nm, the conclusion can also match the classical DLVO mechanics theory. The above experimental results quantitatively characterize the van der Waals attraction at the nanoscale, confirming its adherence to classical theoretical predictions in the medium to long range of action, thereby transforming the van der Waals force from a theoretical hypothesis to a directly observable and accurately quantifiable physical fact. Overall, this study not only achieved precise measurement of van der Waals forces at the laboratory level for the first time, thus ushering in the experimental era of surface mechanics and opening the door to modern molecular mechanics research, laying the foundation for modern representative surface force science and interface physics research.

First Author：JACOB N. ISRAELACHVILI

Corresponding Author：JACOB N. ISRAELACHVILI

Measurement of van der Waals Dispersion Forces in the Range 1.4 to 130nm

The measurement of van der Waals dispersion forces in the range 1.5 to 130 nm