Tunable critical Casimir forces counteract Casimir–Lifshitz attraction
Journal article, 2023
In developing micro- and nanodevices, stiction between their parts, that is, static friction preventing surfaces in contact from moving, is a well-known problem. It is caused by the finite-temperature analogue of the quantum electrodynamical Casimir–Lifshitz forces, which are normally attractive. Repulsive Casimir–Lifshitz forces have been realized experimentally, but their reliance on specialized materials severely limits their applicability and prevents their dynamic control. Here we demonstrate that repulsive critical Casimir forces, which emerge in a critical binary liquid mixture upon approaching the critical temperature, can be used to counteract stiction due to Casimir–Lifshitz forces and actively control microscopic and nanoscopic objects with nanometre precision. Our experiment is conducted on a microscopic gold flake suspended above a flat gold-coated substrate immersed in a critical binary liquid mixture. This may stimulate the development of micro- and nanodevices by preventing stiction as well as by providing active control and precise tunability of the forces acting between their constituent parts.
Author
Falko Schmidt
University of Gothenburg
Friedrich Schiller University Jena
Agnese Callegari
University of Gothenburg
Abdallah Daddi-Moussa-Ider
Max Planck Society
Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf
Battulga Munkhbat
Technical University of Denmark (DTU)
Chalmers, Physics, Nano and Biophysics
Ruggero Verre
Chalmers, Microtechnology and Nanoscience (MC2), Nanofabrication Laboratory
Timur Shegai
Chalmers, Physics, Nano and Biophysics
Mikael Käll
Chalmers, Physics, Nano and Biophysics
Hartmut Löwen
Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf
Andrea Gambassi
National Institute for Nuclear Physics
Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati
Giovanni Volpe
University of Gothenburg
Nature Physics
1745-2473 (ISSN) 17452481 (eISSN)
Vol. 19 2 271-278Subject Categories
Applied Mechanics
Other Engineering and Technologies not elsewhere specified
Vehicle Engineering
DOI
10.1038/s41567-022-01795-6