PRECISION MEASUREMENT OF THE CASIMIR FORCE FOR Au USING A DYNAMIC AFM

Abstract

The gradient of the Casimir force between carefully cleaned Au surfaces of a sphere and a plate is measured using a dynamic atomic force microscope in the frequency modulation regime in high vacuum. The electrostatic calibration of the setup did not reveal any effect of patches or surface contaminants. The experimental data for the force gradient are found to be consistent with theory using the plasma model approach over the entire measurement range. The Drude model approach is excluded by the data at separations from 235 to 400 nm at a 67% confidence level.