Many-body van der Waals interactions in multilayer structures studied by atomic force microscopy.

ABSTRACT: Van der Waals interaction in multilayer structures was predicted to be of many-body character, almost in parallel with the establishment of Lifshitz theory. However, the diminishing interaction between layers separated by a finite-thickness intermediate layer prevents experimental verification of the many-body nature. Here we verify the substrate contribution at the adhesion between the atomic force microscopy tip and the supported graphene, by taking advantage of the atomic-scale proximity of two objects separated by graphene. While the pairwise dispersion theory overestimates the substrate contribution at critical adhesive pressures, the many-body dispersion theory remedies this deficiency, highlighting the non-additivity nature of substrate contribution. The many-body effect is further

SUBMITTER: Wang X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11696292 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature