Forces in Liquid Metal Contacts

Using rather well known theory about capillary bridges between two electrodes we calculate the tensile force that can be applied to liquid metal contacts in the micrometer regime. Assuming circular symmetry, full wetting of the electrodes, and neglecting gravity, we present a brief review of the necessary theory and find numerically the forces to be in the 100μN range for liquid metals as mercury and liquid Gallium suspended between electrodes of 20μm radius.