Tunable critical Casimir forces counteract Casimir–Lifshitz attraction
Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift, 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.
Författare
Falko Schmidt
Göteborgs universitet
Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena
Agnese Callegari
Göteborgs universitet
Abdallah Daddi-Moussa-Ider
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Heinrich Heine Universität Düsseldorf
Battulga Munkhbat
Danmarks Tekniske Universitet (DTU)
Chalmers, Fysik, Nano- och biofysik
Ruggero Verre
Chalmers, Mikroteknologi och nanovetenskap, Nanotekniklaboratoriet
Timur Shegai
Chalmers, Fysik, Nano- och biofysik
Mikael Käll
Chalmers, Fysik, Nano- och biofysik
Hartmut Löwen
Heinrich Heine Universität Düsseldorf
Andrea Gambassi
Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare
Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati
Giovanni Volpe
Göteborgs universitet
Nature Physics
1745-2473 (ISSN) 17452481 (eISSN)
Vol. 19 2 271-278Ämneskategorier
Teknisk mekanik
Övrig annan teknik
Farkostteknik
DOI
10.1038/s41567-022-01795-6