Modulation of Casimir Force between Graphene-Covered Hyperbolic Materials

Area of Science:

• Condensed matter physics
• Nanotechnology
• Materials science

Background:

• The Casimir force, a quantum mechanical effect, arises from vacuum fluctuations and is crucial in micro/nano-electromechanical systems.
• Graphene and hyperbolic materials (HMs) possess unique electromagnetic properties with potential for manipulating quantum forces.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and investigate a flexible method for modulating the Casimir force.
• To explore the use of graphene combined with hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) and porous silicon carbide (SiC) as hyperbolic materials for Casimir force control.

Main Methods:

• Theoretical modeling of the Casimir force between graphene-covered hyperbolic materials (hBN and porous SiC) at zero temperature.
• Analysis of reflection coefficients to understand the underlying physical mechanisms.
• Investigation of the role of surface plasmons (SPs) in graphene and hyperbolic phonon polaritons (HPhPs) in HMs.

Main Results:

• Covering hyperbolic materials with graphene monotonically increases the Casimir force.
• The Casimir force can be flexibly modulated by tuning the Fermi level of graphene, especially at larger separation distances.
• The filling factor of porous SiC also provides a means to control the Casimir force.

Conclusions:

• The interaction between graphene's SPs and HM's HPhPs enhances the Casimir force.
• Combining graphene with natural or artificial HMs offers a tunable platform for Casimir force modulation.
• The proposed method has potential applications in advanced detection and nanotechnology.