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  • A platform of gold reveals the forces of nature’s invisible glue/
  • The Chalmers researchers’ new platform makes it possible to measure and study the forces that are usually referred to as nature’s invisible glue – what binds objects together at the smallest scales. When light is captured between two gold flakes, the researchers can study the delicate balance between two forces – one pulling the tiny objects towards each other and the other holding them apart. The joining force, the Casimir effect, makes the gold flakes connect to each other.  The second, electrostatic force, arise in the salt solution and prevents the flakes from sticking together completely. When those two forces balance each other, this is known as a self-assembly process, and the result is the cavity that opens up new research possibilities.

The Chalmers researchers’ new platform makes it possible to measure and study the forces that are usually referred to as nature’s invisible glue – what binds objects together at the smallest scales. When light is captured between two gold flakes, the researchers can study the delicate balance between two forces – one pulling the tiny objects towards each other and the other holding them apart. The joining force, the Casimir effect, makes the gold flakes connect to each other.  The second, electrostatic force, arise in the salt solution and prevents the flakes from sticking together completely. When those two forces balance each other, this is known as a self-assembly process, and the result is the cavity that opens up new research possibilities.


Photographer: Chalmers University of Technology | Mia Halleröd Palmgren

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