Fine calibration of the residual dissipation in a surface forces apparatus using a capacitive sensor.

The design of a dynamic surface force apparatus using a capacitive sensor has been useful in the past to study the nanorheological behavior of thin liquid films confined between a sphere and a plane. This allows a precise measurement of the hydrodynamical boundary condition of liquids down to some molecular sizes. However for thick liquid films, the viscous force is decreased and the dissipation due to the flow of air in the capacitive sensor becomes of the same order of magnitude than the force due to the liquid flow. In the present paper we present an original technique to characterize this residual force due to the capacitive sensor and we show that a precise subtraction of this force extends the precision of the device to the case of thick liquid films of low viscosity. This correction should be of major importance to extend the capability of surface forces apparatus to measure very large boundary slippage of simple liquids.