Demonstration of the Lateral Casimir Force

F. Chen, U. Mohideen, G. L. Klimchitskaya, and V. M. Mostepanenko
Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 101801 – Published 25 February 2002
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Abstract

The lateral Casimir force between a sinusoidally corrugated gold coated plate and large sphere was measured for surface separations between 0.2 to 0.3μm using an atomic force microscope. The measured force shows the required periodicity corresponding to the corrugations. It also exhibits the necessary inverse fourth power distance dependence. The obtained results are shown to be in good agreement with a complete theory taking into account the imperfectness of the boundary metal. This demonstration opens new opportunities for the use of the Casimir effect for lateral translation in microelectromechanical systems.

  • Received 26 November 2001

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.88.101801

©2002 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

F. Chen and U. Mohideen*

  • Department of Physics, University of California, Riverside, California 92521

G. L. Klimchitskaya and V. M. Mostepanenko

  • Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, C.P. 5008, CEP 58059-970, João Pessoa, Pb-Brazil

  • *Email address: umar.mohideen@ucr.edu

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Vol. 88, Iss. 10 — 11 March 2002

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