The Casimir frictional drag force between a SiO2 tip and a graphene-covered SiO2 substrate

摘要

The possibility of the mechanical detection of the Casimir friction using thenon-contact force microscope is discussed. On a SiO2 tip situated above agraphene-covered SiO2 substrate will act the frictional drag force mediated bya fluctuating electromagnetic field produced by a current in the graphenesheet. This friction force will produce the bending of the cantilever, whichcan be measured by state-of-art non-contact force microscope. Both the thermaland quantum contributions to the Casimir frictional drag force can be studiedusing this experimental setup. This result paves the ways for the mechanicaldetection of the Casimir friction and for the application of the frictionaldrag effect in micro- and nano- electromechanical devices (MEMS and NEMS).