Summary and Outlook

Abstract

We have presented a general formalism for determining the electromagnetic normal modes in layered structures. We have furthermore shown how to calculate the dispersion energy and forces for these structures, both at zero and finite temperature. For the convenience of the reader we have derived in detail what is needed to address the three most common geometrical classes viz. the planar, spherical and cylindrical. We have presented both non-retarded and fully retarded treatments. We have also given the resulting relations for a large number of illustrating examples.