Transformation optics applied to van der Waals interactions

The van der Waals force originates from the electromagnetic interaction between quantum fluctuation-induced charges. It is a ubiquitous but subtle force which plays an important role and has a wide range of applications in surface related phenomena like adhesion, friction, and colloidal stability. C...

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Main Authors: Zhao, Rongkuo, Luo, Yu, Pendry, J. B.
Other Authors: School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/81772
http://hdl.handle.net/10220/41431
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Institution: Nanyang Technological University
Language: English
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spelling sg-ntu-dr.10356-817722020-03-07T13:57:27Z Transformation optics applied to van der Waals interactions Zhao, Rongkuo Luo, Yu Pendry, J. B. School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering Transformation optics Van der Waals forces The van der Waals force originates from the electromagnetic interaction between quantum fluctuation-induced charges. It is a ubiquitous but subtle force which plays an important role and has a wide range of applications in surface related phenomena like adhesion, friction, and colloidal stability. Calculating the van der Waals force between closely spaced metallic nanoparticles is very challenging due to the strong concentration of electromagnetic fields at the nanometric gap. Especially, at such a small length scale, the macroscopic description of the dielectric properties no longer suffices. The diffuse nonlocal nature of the induced surface electrons which are smeared out near the boundary has to be considered. Here, we review the recent progress on using three-dimensional transformation optics to study the van der Waals forces between closely spaced nanostructures. Through mapping a seemingly asymmetric system to a more symmetric counterpart, transformation optics enables us to look into the behavior of van der Waals forces at extreme length scales, where the effect of nonlocality is found to dramatically weaken the van der Waals interactions. 2016-09-07T07:25:25Z 2019-12-06T14:40:18Z 2016-09-07T07:25:25Z 2019-12-06T14:40:18Z 2016 2016 Journal Article 2095-9273 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/81772 http://hdl.handle.net/10220/41431 10.1007/s11434-015-0958-x 189484 en Science Bulletin © 2015 Science China Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.
institution Nanyang Technological University
building NTU Library
country Singapore
collection DR-NTU
language English
topic Transformation optics
Van der Waals forces
spellingShingle Transformation optics
Van der Waals forces
Zhao, Rongkuo
Luo, Yu
Pendry, J. B.
Transformation optics applied to van der Waals interactions
description The van der Waals force originates from the electromagnetic interaction between quantum fluctuation-induced charges. It is a ubiquitous but subtle force which plays an important role and has a wide range of applications in surface related phenomena like adhesion, friction, and colloidal stability. Calculating the van der Waals force between closely spaced metallic nanoparticles is very challenging due to the strong concentration of electromagnetic fields at the nanometric gap. Especially, at such a small length scale, the macroscopic description of the dielectric properties no longer suffices. The diffuse nonlocal nature of the induced surface electrons which are smeared out near the boundary has to be considered. Here, we review the recent progress on using three-dimensional transformation optics to study the van der Waals forces between closely spaced nanostructures. Through mapping a seemingly asymmetric system to a more symmetric counterpart, transformation optics enables us to look into the behavior of van der Waals forces at extreme length scales, where the effect of nonlocality is found to dramatically weaken the van der Waals interactions.
author2 School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
author_facet School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Zhao, Rongkuo
Luo, Yu
Pendry, J. B.
format Article
author Zhao, Rongkuo
Luo, Yu
Pendry, J. B.
author_sort Zhao, Rongkuo
title Transformation optics applied to van der Waals interactions
title_short Transformation optics applied to van der Waals interactions
title_full Transformation optics applied to van der Waals interactions
title_fullStr Transformation optics applied to van der Waals interactions
title_full_unstemmed Transformation optics applied to van der Waals interactions
title_sort transformation optics applied to van der waals interactions
publishDate 2016
url https://hdl.handle.net/10356/81772
http://hdl.handle.net/10220/41431
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