Casimir force between two dielectric layers: Van Kampen approach

TL;DR

This paper applies the Van Kampen method to calculate the Casimir force between two dielectric layers, exploring the effects of layer thickness, material models, and temperature, revealing complex dependence and saturation behaviors.

Contribution

It introduces a Van Kampen approach for Casimir force calculation that accounts for complex dielectric models, layer thickness, and finite temperature effects.

Findings

Force strength saturates at ~10 nm thickness.

Force density scales with thickness squared at low thickness.

Method applicable to arbitrary layered configurations and finite temperatures.

Abstract

The Van Kampen method is used to calculate the Casimir force for two dielectric layers. Several terms of Lorentz oscillators are used in the permittivity model. A conductive dielectric (metal) with the Drude model is considered as a special case. The dependence of strength on thickness has a complex character with saturation at thicknesses of the order of 10 nm. At low thickness, the force density is proportional to the square of the thickness, but this is the case at low thicknesses, when the continuum model is no longer applicable. The correspondence between the method of the Casimir model and the Lorentz model is shown, as well as its applicability for an arbitrary configuration of layers and for a finite temperature.