Casimir forces on a silicon micromechanical chip

J. Zou, Z. Marcet, A. W. Rodriguez, M. T. H. Reid, A. P. McCauley, I. I. Kravchenko, T. Lu, Y. Bao, S. G. Johnson and H. B. Chan ()
Additional contact information
J. Zou: University of Florida
Z. Marcet: University of Florida
A. W. Rodriguez: School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University
M. T. H. Reid: Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
A. P. McCauley: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
I. I. Kravchenko: Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
T. Lu: The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
Y. Bao: University of Florida
S. G. Johnson: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
H. B. Chan: The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China

Nature Communications, 2013, vol. 4, issue 1, 1-6

Abstract: Abstract Quantum fluctuations give rise to van der Waals and Casimir forces that dominate the interaction between electrically neutral objects at sub-micron separations. Under the trend of miniaturization, such quantum electrodynamical effects are expected to play an important role in micro- and nano-mechanical devices. Nevertheless, utilization of Casimir forces on the chip level remains a major challenge because all experiments so far require an external object to be manually positioned close to the mechanical element. Here by integrating a force-sensing micromechanical beam and an electrostatic actuator on a single chip, we demonstrate the Casimir effect between two micromachined silicon components on the same substrate. A high degree of parallelism between the two near-planar interacting surfaces can be achieved because they are defined in a single lithographic step. Apart from providing a compact platform for Casimir force measurements, this scheme also opens the possibility of tailoring the Casimir force using lithographically defined components of non-conventional shapes.

Date: 2013
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms2842

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