Engineering Casimir force reduction through metallic surface nanostructuring

Details Engineering Casimir force reduction through metallic surface nanostructuring Engineering Casimir force reduction through metallic surface nanostructuring

2012-02-28

arxiv.org/abs/1202.6356v1

Physics

Quantum Physics

24 pages, 5 figures

Scientific paper

The Casimir force is an interaction arising from quantum-mechanical fluctuations of the electromagnetic (EM) field, and is technologically significant as it results in stiction in micro- and nano-electromechanical systems (MEMS and NEMS). Control of the Casimir force has remained elusive, as many complex EM modes over a broad range of energy and length scales contribute simultaneously. Here we engineer one of two interacting gold surfaces into a high aspect ratio lamellar grating with 100 nm features, and demonstrate for the first time a strong Casimir force reduction by metallic nanostructuring. For inter-surface separations d above \approx 400 nm, the measured Casimir force in vacuum decreases faster than the usual d^{-4} power-law reaching a value more than 2 times smaller than the one predicted by the proximity force approximation for planar-like geometries. The observed force suppression is in agreement with our ab-initio numerical analysis, and cannot be explained by either perfect electrical conductor or effective medium descriptions. This leads us to suggest that surface plasmon-like states with evanescent EM fields may play an important role. These findings pave the way towards control and neutralization of Casimir forces for stiction mitigation in MEMS and NEMS, and highlight potential applications of plasmonics in Casimir physics.

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