The Casimir frictional drag force between a SiO2 tip and a graphene-covered SiO2 substrate

Abstract

The possibility of the mechanical detection of the Casimir friction using the non-contact force microscope is discussed. On a SiO2 tip situated above a graphene-covered SiO2 substrate will act the frictional drag force mediated by a fluctuating electromagnetic field produced by a current in the graphene sheet. This friction force will produce the bending of the cantilever, which can be measured by state-of-art non-contact force microscope. Both the thermal and quantum contributions to the Casimir frictional drag force can be studied using this experimental setup. This result paves the ways for the mechanical detection of the Casimir friction and for the application of the frictional drag effect in micro- and nano- electromechanical devices (MEMS and NEMS).