Beyond Attraction: A Novel Approach to Repulsive Casimir-Lifshitz Forces using heterogeneous off-stoichiometry in gapped metals

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new method to switch between attractive and repulsive Casimir forces using heterogeneously doped gapped metals and liquid media, enabling quantum levitation and advancing nanoscale force control.

Contribution

It uncovers a zero-frequency Casimir effect in gapped metals, enabling phase-controlled attraction-repulsion transitions and quantum switching at nanometer scales.

Findings

Demonstrated quantum switching of Casimir forces

Achieved quantum levitation in liquid media

Linked dielectric properties to force modulation

Abstract

We uncover a novel physical mechanism that enables a switch between attractive and repulsive Casimir forces when a Teflon surface interacts with a new form of quantum material (i.e., gapped metal) surface across different liquid media. We demonstrate the discovery of a zero-frequency Casimir effect, which, for the first time, reveals the potential for quantum switching within nanometer distances-a scale previously thought to be unattainable. Hence, our results introduce a new method to induce phase (stoichiometry)-controlled attraction-repulsion transitions and achieving quantum levitation in a liquid medium by tuning the liquid environment. This study thus not only advances our understanding of quantum forces at the nanoscale via their correlation to dielectric properties of involved materials but also opens up exciting possibilities for their manipulation in novel ways, forming the basis towards innovative advancements in nanoscale technology.