Quantized Casimir force.
We investigate the Casimir effect between two-dimensional electron systems driven to the quantum Hall regime by a strong perpendicular magnetic field. In the large-separation (d) limit where retardation effects are essential, we find (i) that the Casimir force is quantized in units of 3ħcα(2)/8π(2)d(4) and (ii) that the force is repulsive for mirrors with the same type of carrier and attractive for mirrors with opposite types of carrier. The sign of the Casimir force is therefore electrically tunable in ambipolar materials such as graphene. The Casimir force is suppressed when one mirror is a charge-neutral graphene system in a filling factor ν=0 quantum Hall state.
Department of Physics, University of Texas, Austin, Texas 78712, USA.
Wang-Kong
WK
Tse
A H
AH
MacDonald