Observation and control of Casimir effects in a sphere-plate-sphere system

Zhujing Xu; Peng Ju; Xingyu Gao; Kunhong Shen; Zubin Jacob; Tongcang Li

doi:10.1038/s41467-022-33915-4

Observation and control of Casimir effects in a sphere-plate-sphere system

Nat Commun. 2022 Oct 18;13(1):6148. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-33915-4.

Authors

Zhujing Xu¹, Peng Ju¹, Xingyu Gao¹, Kunhong Shen¹, Zubin Jacob^{2

3}, Tongcang Li^{4

5

6

7}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physics and Astronomy, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA.
² Elmore Family School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA.
³ Birck Nanotechnology Center, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA.
⁴ Department of Physics and Astronomy, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA. tcli@purdue.edu.
⁵ Elmore Family School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA. tcli@purdue.edu.
⁶ Birck Nanotechnology Center, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA. tcli@purdue.edu.
⁷ Purdue Quantum Science and Engineering Institute, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA. tcli@purdue.edu.

Abstract

A remarkable prediction of quantum field theory is that there are quantum electromagnetic fluctuations (virtual photons) everywhere, which leads to the intriguing Casimir effect. While the Casimir force between two objects has been studied extensively for several decades, the Casimir force between three objects has not been measured yet. Here, we report the experimental demonstration of an object under the Casimir force exerted by two other objects simultaneously. Our Casimir system consists of a micrometer-thick cantilever placed in between two microspheres, forming a unique sphere-plate-sphere geometry. We also propose and demonstrate a three-terminal switchable architecture exploiting opto-mechanical Casimir interactions that can lay the foundations of a Casimir transistor. Beyond the paradigm of Casimir forces between two objects in different geometries, our Casimir transistor represents an important development for controlling three-body virtual photon interactions and will have potential applications in sensing and information processing.

Abstract

Grants and funding