Nonlocal thin films in calculations of the Casimir force

Abstract

The Casimir force is calculated between plates with thin metallic coating. Thin films are described with spatially dispersive (nonlocal) dielectric functions. For thin films the nonlocal effects are more relevant than for half-spaces. However, it is shown that even for film thickness smaller than the mean free path for electrons, the difference between local and nonlocal calculations of the Casimir force is of the order of a few tenths of a percent. Thus the local description of thin metallic films is adequate within the current experimental precision and range of separations. © 2005 The American Physical Society.