Kavli Affiliate: Sander Otte
| First 5 Authors: Minxing Xu, Robbie J. G. Elbertse, Ata Keşkekler, Giuseppe Bimonte, Jinwon Lee
| Summary:
The Casimir effect and superconductivity are foundational quantum phenomena
whose interaction remains an open question in physics. How Casimir forces
behave across a superconducting transition remains unresolved, owing to the
experimental difficulty of achieving alignment, cryogenic environments, and
isolating small changes from competing effects. This question carries
implications for electron physics, quantum gravity, and high-temperature
superconductivity. Here we demonstrate an on-chip superconducting platform that
overcomes these challenges, achieving one of the most parallel Casimir
configurations to date. Our microchip-based cavities achieve unprecedented
area-to-separation ratio between plates, exceeding previous Casimir experiments
by orders of magnitude and generating the strongest Casimir forces yet between
compliant surfaces. Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) is used for the first
time to directly detect the resonant motion of a suspended membrane, with
subatomic precision in both lateral positioning and displacement. Such
precision measurements across a superconducting transition allow for the
suppression of all van der Waals, electrostatic, and thermal effects.
Preliminary measurements suggest superconductivity-dependent shifts in the
Casimir force, motivating further investigation and comparison with theories.
By uniting extreme parallelism, nanomechanics, and STM readout, our platform
opens a new experimental frontier at the intersection of Casimir physics and
superconductivity.
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