https://doi.org/10.1140/epjst/e2008-00722-y
The Casimir effect in the nanoworld
1
Laboratoire des Nanostructures, ISIS, CNRS, ULP, 67083 Strasbourg Cedex, France
2
Laboratoire Kastler Brossel, ENS, CNRS, UPMC, Campus Jussieu, 75252 Paris Cedex 05, France
Corresponding author: reynaud@spectro.jussieu.fr
The Casimir effect is a force arising in the macroscopic world as a result of radiation pressure of vacuum fluctuations. It thus plays a key role in the emerging domain of nano-electro-mechanical systems (NEMS). This role is reviewed in the present paper, with discussions of the influence of the material properties of the mirrors, as well as the geometry dependence of the Casimir effect between corrugated mirrors. In particular, the lateral component of the Casimir force and restoring torque between metal plates with misaligned corrugations are evaluated.
© EDP Sciences, Springer-Verlag, 2008
