Slip-length measurement of confined air flow using dynamic atomic force microscopy.

We present an experimental measurement of the slip length of air flow close to solid surfaces using an atomic force microscope (AFM) in dynamic mode. The air was confined between a glass surface and a spherical glass particle glued to an AFM cantilever. The Knudsen number was varied continuously over three decades by varying the distance between the two surfaces. Our results show that the effect of confining the air is purely dissipative. The data are described by an isothermal Maxwell slip-boundary condition, and the measured slip-length value was 118 nm .