Temporal extent of surface potentials between closely spaced metals
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Updated: Jul 2, 2026

A Method to Manipulate Surface Tension of a Liquid Metal via Surface Oxidation and Reduction
Published on: January 26, 2016
S E Pollack1, S Schlamminger, J H Gundlach
1Department of Physics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195-4290, USA. skotep@skotep.com
Abstract:
Variations in the electrostatic surface potential between the proof mass and electrode housing in the space-based gravitational wave mission Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) is one of the largest contributors of noise at frequencies below a few mHz. Torsion balances provide an ideal test bed for investigating these effects in conditions emulative of LISA. Our apparatus consists of a Au coated Cu plate brought near a Au coated Si plate pendulum suspended from a thin W wire. We have measured a white noise level of 30 microV/sqrt Hz above approximately 0.1 mHz, rising at lower frequencies, for the surface potential variations between these two closely spaced metals.
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