Physicists measure van der Waals forces of individual atoms for the first time

Physicists measure van der Waals forces of individual atoms for the first time Basel, Switzerland (SPX) May 17, 2016 - Physicists at the Swiss Nanoscience Institute and the University of Basel have succeeded in measuring the very weak van der Waals forces between individual atoms for the first time. To do this, they fixed individual noble gas atoms within a molecular network and determined the interactions with a single xenon atom that they had positioned at the tip of an atomic force microscope. As expect ... more

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