title: Casimir force and in situ surface potential measurements on nanomembranes.
abstract: We present Casimir force measurements in a sphere-plate configuration that consists of a high quality nanomembrane resonator and a millimeter sized gold coated sphere. The nanomembrane is fabricated from stoichiometric silicon nitride metallized with gold. A Kelvin probe method is used in situ to image the surface potentials to minimize the distance-dependent residual force. Resonance-enhanced frequency-domain measurements of the nanomembrane motion allow for very high resolution measurements of the Casimir force gradient (down to a force gradient sensitivity of 3  μN/m). Using this technique, the Casimir force in the range of 100 nm to 2  μm is accurately measured. Experimental data thus obtained indicate that the device system in the measured range is best described with the Drude model.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Garcia-Sanchez
authors.forename: King Yan
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Fong
authors.forename: Harish
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bhaskaran
authors.forename: Steve
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lamoreaux
authors.forename: Hong X
authors.initials: HX
authors.lastname: Tang