Building a Casimir Metrology Platform with a Commercial MEMS Accelerometer

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a novel MEMS-based platform capable of directly measuring the Casimir force at room temperature with high sensitivity, paving the way for practical quantum metrology applications.

Contribution

It introduces a modified capacitive MEMS accelerometer with micro-structured attachments for direct Casimir force measurement at ambient conditions.

Findings

Successful measurement of Casimir force between microsphere and plate

Achieved pN resolution in force detection

Demonstrated potential for room-temperature quantum metrology

Abstract

The Casimir Effect is a physical manifestation of quantum fluctuations of the electromagnetic vacuum. When two metal plates are placed closely together, typically much less than a micron, the long wavelength modes between them are frozen out, giving rise to a net attractive force between the plates, scaling as d^-4 (or d^-3 for a spherical-planar geometry) even when they are not electrically charged. In this paper we observe the Casimir Effect in ambient conditions using a modified capacitive MEMS accelerometer. Using a feedback assisted pick-and-place assembly process we are able to attach various micro-structures onto the post-release MEMS, converting it from an inertial force sensor to a direct force measurement platform with pN resolution. With this system we are able to directly measure the Casimir force between a silver-coated microsphere and gold-coated silicon plate. This device is a step towards leveraging the Casimir Effect for cheap, sensitive, room temperature quantum metrology.