A frustrated nanomechanical device powered by the lateral Casimir force

TL;DR

This paper proposes a nanoscale mechanical device utilizing the lateral Casimir force between corrugated surfaces, enabling sensitive phase behavior for potential use as sensors, amplifiers, or tunable clocks.

Contribution

It introduces a novel nanomechanical device based on lateral Casimir forces, demonstrating its potential for sensing, amplification, and timing applications.

Findings

Device exhibits frustrated phase behavior due to lateral Casimir force

Potential for high-sensitivity mechanical sensing and amplification

Enables creation of tunable mechanical clock signals

Abstract

The coupling between corrugated surfaces due to the lateral Casimir force is employed to propose a nanoscale mechanical device composed of two racks and a pinion. The noncontact nature of the interaction allows for the system to be made frustrated by choosing the two racks to move in the same direction and forcing the pinion to choose between two opposite directions. This leads to a rich and sensitive phase behavior, which makes the device potentially useful as a mechanical {\em sensor} or {\em amplifier}. The device could also be used to make a mechanical {\em clock} signal of tunable frequency.