Precision measurement of the Casimir-Lifshitz force in a fluid

Journal Article · Fri Jun 15 04:00:00 EDT 2007 · Physical Review. A

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVA.75.060102· OSTI ID:20991049

Munday, J N; Capasso, Federico ^[1]

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1. Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138 (United States)

The Casimir force, which results from the confinement of the quantum-mechanical zero-point fluctuations of electromagnetic fields, has received significant attention in recent years for its effect on micro- and nanoscale mechanical systems. With few exceptions, experimental observations have been limited to interacting conductive bodies separated by vacuum or air. However, interesting phenomena, including repulsive forces, are expected to exist in certain circumstances between metals and dielectrics when the intervening medium is not vacuum. In order to better understand the effect of the Casimir force in such situations and to test the robustness of the generalized Casimir-Lifshitz theory, we have performed precision measurements of the Casimir force between two metals immersed in a fluid. For this situation, the measured force is attractive and is approximately 80% smaller than the force predicted by Casimir for ideal metals in vacuum. We present experimental results and find them to be consistent with Lifshitz's theory.

• OSTI ID: 20991049
• Journal Information: Physical Review. A, Journal Name: Physical Review. A Journal Issue: 6 Vol. 75; ISSN 1050-2947; ISSN PLRAAN
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
AIR
ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPY
CASIMIR EFFECT
DIELECTRIC MATERIALS
ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS
FLUCTUATIONS
METALS
NANOSTRUCTURES
QUANTUM MECHANICS