Theory confronts experiment in the Casimir force measurements: Quantification of errors and precision
- Department of Physics, University of California, Riverside, California 92521 (United States)
- Departamento de Fisica, Universidade Federal da Paraiba, C.P. 5008, CEP 58059-970, Joao Pessoa (Brazil)
We compare theory and experiment in the Casimir force measurement between gold surfaces performed with the atomic force microscope. Both random and systematic experimental errors are found leading to a total absolute error equal to 8.5 pN at 95% confidence. In terms of the relative errors, experimental precision of 1.75% is obtained at the shortest separation of 62 nm at 95% confidence level (at 60% confidence the experimental precision of 1% is confirmed at the shortest separation). An independent determination of the accuracies of the theoretical calculations of the Casimir force and its application to the experimental configuration is carefully made. Special attention is paid to the sample-dependent variations of the optical tabulated data due to the presence of grains, contribution of surface plasmons, and errors introduced by the use of the proximity force theorem. Nonmultiplicative and diffraction-type contributions to the surface roughness corrections are examined. The electric forces due to patch potentials resulting from the polycrystalline nature of the gold films are estimated. The finite size and thermal effects are found to be negligible. The theoretical accuracy of about 1.69% and 1.1% are found at a separation 62 nm and 200 nm, respectively. Within the limits of experimental and theoretical errors very good agreement between experiment and theory is confirmed characterized by the root-mean-square deviation of about 3.5 pN within all measurement range. The conclusion is made that the Casimir force is stable relative to variations of the sample-dependent optical and electric properties, which opens new opportunities to use the Casimir effect for diagnostic purposes.
- OSTI ID:
- 20640690
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review. A, Vol. 69, Issue 2; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.69.022117; (c) 2004 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1050-2947
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Experimental Investigation of the Casimir Force beyond the Proximity-Force Approximation
Possibility of measuring the thermal Casimir interaction between a plate and a cylinder attached to a micromachined oscillator
Related Subjects
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ACCURACY
ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPY
CASIMIR EFFECT
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
CORRECTIONS
DIFFRACTION
ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES
ERRORS
GOLD
PLASMONS
POLYCRYSTALS
POTENTIAL ENERGY
POTENTIALS
ROUGHNESS
SURFACES
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE
THIN FILMS
VISIBLE RADIATION