VOLUME 82, NUMBER 5 PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 1 FEBRUARY 1999

Cyprien Gay* and Ludwik Leib1ert

Laboratoire CNRS-Elf Atochem (UMR 167), 95, rue Danton, B.P. 108, 92303 Levallois-Perret cedex, France

(Received 15 April1998)

We show that the interp1ay between surface roughness on micron scale and air suction can yield tack energies much higher than thermodynamic surface energies. Our model provides a quantitative interpretation of highly nonlinear force~versus-separation curves which are usua11y observed when adhesion forces and energies are high. [SOO31-9007(99)08393-3] PACS numbers: 46.55.+d, 68.35.Gy