Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 170602 (2010) [4 pages]

Influence of Noise on Force Measurements

Abstract

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Giovanni Volpe^1,2,*, Laurent Helden², Thomas Brettschneider², Jan Wehr³, and Clemens Bechinger^1,2
¹Max-Planck-Institut für Metallforschung, Heisenbergstraße 3, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany
²2. Physikalisches Institut, Universität Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 57, 70550 Stuttgart, Germany
³Department of Mathematics, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721-0089, USA

Received 2 February 2010; published 28 April 2010

We demonstrate how the ineluctable presence of thermal noise alters the measurement of forces acting on microscopic and nanoscopic objects. We quantify this effect exemplarily for a Brownian particle near a wall subjected to gravitational and electrostatic forces. Our results demonstrate that the force-measurement process is prone to artifacts if the noise is not correctly taken into account.

URL:

http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.104.170602

DOI:

10.1103/PhysRevLett.104.170602

PACS:

05.40.-a, 07.10.Pz

^*g.volpe@physik.uni-stuttgart.de

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 170602 (2010) [4 pages]

Influence of Noise on Force Measurements

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