  We characterize the mechanical recovery of compliant silicone gels following
adhesive contact failure. We establish broad, stable adhesive contacts between
rigid microspheres and soft gels, then stretch the gels to large deformations
by pulling quasi-statically on the contact. Eventually, the adhesive contact
begins to fail, and ultimately slides to a final contact point on the bottom of
the sphere. Immediately after detachment, the gel recoils quickly with a
self-similar surface profile that evolves as a power law in time, suggesting
that the adhesive detachment point is singular. The singular dynamics we
observe are consistent with a relaxation process driven by surface stress and
slowed by viscous flow through the porous, elastic network of the gel. Our
results emphasize the importance of accounting for both the liquid and solid
phases of gels in understanding their mechanics, especially under extreme
deformation.
