Abstract In developing micro- and nanodevices, stiction between their parts, that is, static friction preventing surfaces in contact from moving, is a well-known problem. It caused by the finite-temperature analogue of quantum electrodynamical Casimir–Lifshitz forces, which are normally attractive. Repulsive forces have been realized experimentally, but reliance on specialized materials severel...

An exact statistical mechanical derivation is given of the critical Casimir forces for Ising strips with arbitrary surface fields applied to edges. Our results show that the strength as well as the sign of the force can be controlled by varying the temperature or the fields. An interpretation of the results is given in terms of a linked cluster expansion. This suggests a systematic approach for...

The physics of operation of nanotube NEMS devices is reviewed. Special attention is paid to non-classical effects, rarely described in MEMS analysis, such as van der Waals/Casimir interactions, quantum effects in electrostatics, atomistic parameterization of elasticity. As an example of a breakdown of a classical MEMS theory, the NEMS scaling limitation is derived in a lump model taking into ac...

Casimir energy for solid conducting ball is considered on the base of some finite models. One model is physical and built of a battery of parallel metallic plates. Two finite models are based on the Higgs model of superconductivity. One of them is supersymmetric and based on the Witten field model for superconducting strings. Treatment shows that contribution of Casimir energy can be very essen...

We develop a theory for Casimir-Lifshitz and Casimir-Polder interactions with semiconductor or insulator surfaces that takes into account charge drift in the bulk material through use of the classical Boltzmann equation. We derive frequency-dependent dispersion relations that give the usual Lifshitz results for dielectrics as a limiting case and, in the quasistatic limit, coincide with those re...

The dynamical Casimir effect for the ideal case of two perfectly conducting non-charged parallel plates, is discussed using the zero-point energy summation method to the first order in perturbation theory. We show that it is possible to create photon radiation when the two plates are modulated rapidly in time. Moreover we point out that the static Casimir energy between two conducting non-charg...

We find the combined effect of nonzero temperature and finite conductivity onto the Casimir force between real metals. Configurations of two parallel plates and a sphere (lens) above a plate are considered. Perturbation theory in two parameters (the relative temperature and the relative penetration depth of zero-point oscillations into the metal) is developed. Perturbative results are compared ...