Casimir force inadequacy in explaining a strong attractive force in a micrometer-sized narrow-gap re-entrant cavity

Abstract

Pate et al. \cite{pate} investigated a macroscopic opto-mechanical system with a narrow-gap re-entrant cavity coupled to a SiN membrane resonator coated with Au or Nb. They observed a significant increase in the membrane's effective spring constant $k_{\rm eff}$ for sub-2-micron gaps $x$. This increase scales roughly with $x^{-4}$, suggesting an attractive force pulling the membrane towards the re-entrant Al post, with an $x^{-3}$ dependence. Attributing this force solely to the thermal Casimir effect is challenged by our detailed calculations (presented below). These calculations reveal that the Casimir force, at the investigated gap sizes, is orders of magnitude weaker than the observed force. This significant discrepancy necessitates an alternative explanation for the observed attraction.