Electrostatic interaction due to patch potentials on smooth conducting surfaces

C. D. FOSCO, F. C. LOMBARDO, AND F. D. MAZZITELLI

PHYSICAL REVIEW A - ATOMIC, MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS

AMER PHYSICAL SOC

Lugar: New York; Año: 2013 vol. 88 p. 625011 - 625018

1050-2947

We evaluate the electrostatic interaction energy between two surfaces, one flat and the other slightly curved, in terms of the two-point autocorrelation functions for patch potentials on each one of them, and of a single function ψ which defines the curved surface. The resulting interaction energy, a functional of ψ, is evaluated up to the second order in a derivative expansion approach. We derive explicit formulas for the coefficients of that expansion as simple integrals involving the autocorrelation functions, and evaluate them for some relevant patch-potential profiles and geometries.