Detecting Casimir Forces through a Tunneling Electromechanical Transducer

We propose the use of a tunneling electromechanical transducer to dinamically detect Casimir forces between two conducting surfaces. The maximum distance for which Casimir forces should be detectable with our method is around 1μm, while the lower limit is given by the ability to approach the surfaces. This technique should permit to study gravitational forces on the same range of distances, as well as the vacuum friction provided that very low dissipation mechanical resonators are used. 03.70.+k, 06.70.Mx, 73.40.Gk Typeset using REVTEX 1 One of the most astonishing and less understood consequences of the existence of quantum vacuum is the possibility to observe forces between macroscopic neutral bodies, as outlined in a pioneering paper by Casimir [1]. Casimir forces are of purely relativistic origin and this is manifested by their retarded nature, thus vanishing at very small distances. The force per unit area between two conducting, but neutral, indefinite and parallel plates has been calculated as