Van der Waals interaction between an atom and a surface defect

A continuum dielectric theory is used to investigate the Van der Waals interaction between an atom and a point defect on a planar surface. A vacancy (or adsorbed atom) is modelled by a hemispherical pit (or bump) which perturbs the dielectric response of the defect-free surface. The anisotropy of the interaction is found to be qualitatively different for the vacancy and adsorbate situations. The estimated magnitude of the interaction seems consistent with recent experimental results.