Strong geometry dependence of the Casimir force between interpenetrated rectangular gratings

Mingkang Wang, L. Tang, C. Y. Ng, Riccardo Messina, Brahim Guizal, J. A. Crosse, Mauro Antezza, C. T. Chan and H. B. Chan ()
Additional contact information
Mingkang Wang: The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
L. Tang: The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
C. Y. Ng: The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Riccardo Messina: Université Paris-Saclay
Brahim Guizal: UMR 5221 CNRS-Université de Montpellier
J. A. Crosse: New York University Shanghai
Mauro Antezza: UMR 5221 CNRS-Université de Montpellier
C. T. Chan: The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
H. B. Chan: The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Nature Communications, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract Quantum fluctuations give rise to Casimir forces between two parallel conducting plates, the magnitude of which increases monotonically as the separation decreases. By introducing nanoscale gratings to the surfaces, recent advances have opened opportunities for controlling the Casimir force in complex geometries. Here, we measure the Casimir force between two rectangular silicon gratings. Using an on-chip detection platform, we achieve accurate alignment between the two gratings so that they interpenetrate as the separation is reduced. Just before interpenetration occurs, the measured Casimir force is found to have a geometry dependence that is much stronger than previous experiments, with deviations from the proximity force approximation reaching a factor of ~500. After the gratings interpenetrate each other, the Casimir force becomes non-zero and independent of displacement. This work shows that the presence of gratings can strongly modify the Casimir force to control the interaction between nanomechanical components.

Date: 2021
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-20891-4 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:12:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-20891-4

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-20891-4

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().