Measurement of the Casimir force between Germanium plates using a torsion balance
- Los Alamos National Laboratory
- YALE UNIV
We report the measurement of the Casimir force between Ge plates in a sphere-plane configuration using a torsion balance. We observe that the effective contact potential between the plates varies with their separation distance, resulting in a systematic force. In addition, an unexpected 1/d force is also found in our data that persists even when the electrostatic force between the plates is experimentally minimized by applying a compensating potential. After applying corrections due to these systematic forces, likely of electrostatic origin, our result can be described by the bare permittivity of Ge without conduction, the Drude and the diffusion models for electrical and optical properties of Ge, but not by the plasma model.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC52-06NA25396
- OSTI ID:
- 960868
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR-08-07718; LA-UR-08-7718; PRLTAO; TRN: US201008%%777
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review Letters, Journal Name: Physical Review Letters; ISSN 0031-9007
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Precise comparison of theory and new experiment for the Casimir force leads to stronger constraints on thermal quantum effects and long-range interactions
Measurement of the Short-Range Attractive Force between Ge Plates Using a Torsion Balance