Measurement of Repulsive Casimir Forces Using MEMS Structures

In 1948, H.B.G. Casimir published a famous article with a simple but profound explanation about retarded Van der Waals interactions [1] as a manifestation of the zero-point energy of a quantized field. In its simplest form, the so-called Casimir effect is the interaction of a pair of neutral, parallel conducting planes due to the disturbance of the vacuum of the electromagnetic field. It is a pure quantum effect, there is no force between the plates (assumed to be neutral), in classical electrodynamics. Casimir was the first that was extracted a finite force between these two neutral plates, an attractive force: