Dynamic and static measurement of interfacial capillary forces by a hybrid nanomechanical system.

The forces resulting from the presence of interfacial liquids have mechanical importance under ambient conditions. For holistic understanding of the liquid-mediated interactions, we combine the force-gradient sensitivity of an atomic force microscope (AFM) with the force measuring capability of a micro-electromechanical force sensor. Simultaneous measurement of the viscoelasticity of the water nanomeniscus and the absolute capillary force shows excellent agreement in its entire length, which justifies the validity of the widely used AFM results. We apply the hybrid system to measure the stress and strain, whose hysteretic response provides the intrinsic quantities of the liquid nanocluster.