We analyze pull-in instability of electrostatically actuated microelectromechanical systems, and study changes in pull-in parameters due to the Casimir effect. When the size of the device is reduced, the magnitude of the Casimir force is comparable with that of the Coulomb force and it significantly alters pull-in parameters. We model the deformable conductor as an elastic membrane and consider...

We have analyzed available optical data for Au in the mid-infrared range which is important for a precise prediction of the Casimir force. Significant variation of the data demonstrates genuine sample dependence of the dielectric function. We demonstrate that the Casimir force is largely determined by the material properties in the low frequency domain and argue that therefore the precise value...

We present the instrumentation and measurement scheme of a new Casimir force probe that bridges Casimir force measurements at microscale and macroscale. A metallized high Q silicon nitride nanomembrane resonator is employed as a sensitive force probe. The high tensile stress present in the nanomembrane not only enhances the quality factor but also maintains high flatness over large area serving...

We review new constraints on the Yukawa-type corrections to Newtonian gravity obtained recently from gravitational experiments and from the measurements of the Casimir force. Special attention is paid to the constraints following from the most precise dynamic determination of the Casimir pressure between the two parallel plates by means of a micromechanical torsional oscillator. The possibility...

that the quantum fluctuations of an electromagnetic field, so-called zero-point fluctuations, give rise to an attractive force between objects 1. This force is a particularly striking consequence of the quantum theory of electrodynamics (for a review, see ref. 2). Casimir's calculations were idealized — he considered two perfectly conducting parallel plates at absolute-zero temperature — but th...

Optical properties of the deposited gold films are discussed in connection with the Casimir force prediction. Voids in the films and electron scattering on the grain boundaries reduce the force at small separations on the 2 % level in comparison with the bulk material prediction. The contribution of the patch potential due to polycrystalline structure of the films is shown to be small for the e...

We have performed measurements of the Casimir force between a metallic plate and a transparent sphere coated with metallic films of different thicknesses. We have observed that, if the thickness of the coating is less than the skin-depth of the electromagnetic modes that mostly contribute to the interaction, the force is significantly smaller than that measured with a thick bulk-like film. Our ...

We consider a massless scalar field obeying Dirichlet boundary conditions on the walls of a two-dimensional L×b rectangular box, divided by a movable partition (piston) into two boxes of dimensions a × b and (L − a) × b. We compute the Casimir force on the piston in the limit L → ∞. Regardless the value of a/b, the piston is attracted to the nearest end of the box. Asymptotic expressions for th...

We present a Casimir force setup based on an all-optical ferrule-top sensor. We demonstrate that the instrument can be used to measure the gradient of the Casimir force between a gold-coated sphere and a gold-coated plate with results that are comparable to those achieved by similar atomic force microscope experiments. Thanks to the monolithic design of the force sensor (which does not require ...

We develop a spectral representation formalism to calculate the Casimir force in the non-retarded limit, between a spherical particle and a substrate, both with arbitrary local dielectric properties. This spectral formalism allows one to do a systematic study of the force as a function of the geometrical variables separately from the dielectric properties. We found that the force does not follo...