Demonstration of the difference Casimir force for samples with different charge carrier densities

Abstract

A measurement of the Casimir force between a gold coated sphere and two Si plates of different carrier densities is performed using a high vacuum based atomic force microscope. The results are compared with the Lifshitz theory and good agreement is found. Our experiment demonstrates that by changing the carrier density of the semiconductor plate by several orders of magnitude it is possible to modify the Casimir interaction. This result may find applications in nanotechnology.

4 pages, 4 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev. Lett