Casimir Forces On A Silicon Micromechanical Chip

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, so far the Casimir force has been experimentally observed only in situations involving an external object manually positioned close to a micromechanical element on a silicon chip. Here, we demonstrate the Casimir effect between two silicon components on the same substrate. In addition to providing an integrated and 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 on a single micromechanical chip.