title: Nonequilibrium Tuning of the Thermal Casimir Effect.
abstract: In net-neutral systems correlations between charge fluctuations generate strong attractive thermal Casimir forces and engineering these forces to optimize nanodevice performance is an important challenge. We show how the normal and lateral thermal Casimir forces between two plates containing Brownian charges can be modulated by decorrelating the system through the application of an electric field, which generates a nonequilibrium steady state with a constant current in one or both plates, reducing the ensuing fluctuation-generated normal force while at the same time generating a lateral drag force. This hypothesis is confirmed by detailed numerical simulations as well as an analytical approach based on stochastic density functional theory.
authors.affiliation: Univ. Bordeaux and CNRS, Laboratoire Ondes et Matière d'Aquitaine (LOMA), UMR 5798, F-33400 Talence, France.
authors.forename: David S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Dean
authors.affiliation: Department of Theoretical Physics, J. Stefan Institute and Department of Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, University of Ljubljana, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Bing-Sui
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: UMR Gulliver 7083 CNRS, ESPCI ParisTech, PSL Research University, 10 rue Vauquelin, 75005 Paris, France.
authors.forename: A C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Maggs
authors.affiliation: Department of Theoretical Physics, J. Stefan Institute and Department of Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, University of Ljubljana, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Rudolf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Podgornik