text: The Surface Force Apparatus (SFA) is a scientific instrument which measures the interaction force of two surfaces as they are brought together and retracted using multiple beam interferometry to monitor surface separation and directly measure contact area and observe any surface deformations occurring in the contact zone.  One surface is held by a cantilevered spring, and the deflection of the spring is used to calculate the force being exerted. The technique was pioneered by David Tabor and R.H.S. Winterton in the late 1960s at Cambridge University. By the mid-1970s, J.N. Israelachvili had adapted the original design to operate in liquids, notably aqueous solutions, while at the Australian National University, and further advanced the technique to support friction and electro-chemical surface studies while at the University of California Santa Barbara.