Casimir force measurements from silicon carbide surfaces

Abstract

Using an atomic force microscope we performed measurements of the Casimir force between a gold- coated (Au) microsphere and doped silicon carbide (SiC) samples. The last of these is a promising material for devices operating under severe environments. The roughness of the interacting surfaces was measured to obtain information for the minimum separation distance upon contact. Ellipsometry data for both systems were used to extract optical properties needed for the calculation of the Casimir force via the Lifshitz theory and for comparison to the experiment. Special attention is devoted to the separation of the electrostatic contribution to the measured total force. Our measurements demonstrate large contact potential V0(≈0.67V), and a relatively small density of charges trapped in SiC. Knowledge of both Casimir and electrostatic forces between interacting materials is not only important from the fundamental point of view, but also for device applications involving actuating components at separations of less than 200 nm where surface forces play dominant role.