Casimir repulsion with biased semiconductors

Abstract

Quantum and thermal fluctuations are fundamental to a plethora of phenomena within quantum optics, including the Casimir effect that acts between closely separated surfaces typically found in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) devices. Particularly promising for engineering and harnessing these forces are systems out of thermal equilibrium. Recently, semiconductors with external bias have been proposed to study the nonequilibrium Casimir force. Here, we explore systems involving moderately biased semiconductors that exhibit strong repulsive Casimir forces, and we determine the effects of bias voltage, semiconductor bandgap energy, and separation for experimentally accessible configurations. Modes emitted from the semiconductors exert a repulsive force on a near surface that overcomes the attractive equilibrium Casimir force contribution at submicron distances. For the geometry of two parallel planes, those modes undergo Fabry–Pérot interference resulting in an oscillatory force behavior as a function of separation. Utilizing the proximity-force approximation, we predict that the repulsive force exerted on a gold sphere is well within the accuracy of typical Casimir force experiments. Our work opens up new possibilities for controlling forces at the nanometer and micrometer scale with applications in sensing and actuation in nanotechnology.