arXiv · quant-ph/0306136
Measurement of the Casimir force between dissimilar metals
Abstract
The first precise measurement of the Casimir force between dissimilar metals is reported. The attractive force, between a Cu layer evaporated on a microelectromechanical torsional oscillator, and an Au layer deposited on an Al$_2$O$_3$ sphere, was measured dynamically with a noise level of 6 fN/$\sqrt{\rm{Hz}}$. Measurements were performed for separations in the 0.2-2 $μ$m range. The results agree to better than 1% in the 0.2-0.5 $μ$m range with a theoretical model that takes into account the finite conductivity and roughness of the two metals. The observed discrepancies, which are much larger than the experimental precision, can be attributed to a lack of a complete characterization of the optical properties of the specific samples used in the experiment.
Explore related subjects
Keep this discovery
R. S. Decca, D. López, E. Fischbach, D. E. Krause. 2003-07-31. Measurement of the Casimir force between dissimilar metals. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.91.050402
Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.