Setting Micro Gears In Motion

jim.b0b writes: "ScienceDaily has a nice article on lateral Casimir force and its possible impact on Micro Machines. 'One can envision a device fabricated with two corrugated surfaces allowing for a sliding motion between the two surfaces. The normal Casimir force would move the membrane up and down in the vertical plane, while the lateral Casimir force would slide it back and forth. Thus, on a silicon chip you can have vertical and sliding motions of a micro device.'"

Re:From Galoob, I'm sure

[s0l0m0n]

I hate micro machines.

I hate it when some goob posts this same lame comment about childrens toys every time MEMs come up.

Great Name

[zpengo]

When I have a son, I'm going to name him "Lateral Casmir Force".

Micro drives?

[Jedi Binglebop]

I wonder if this kind of technology could be used in data storage? I haven't seen anywhere mentions of microtech being used in this regard! Would it be feasable?

So basically...

[gartogg]

This will lead to better chip development? that's the only use the article mentions;

"'The effect of the force on the individual parts of the machines would need to be considered,' said Mohideen. 'This would be important in the silicon chip industry.'"

seems that it should be really important, but I can't see how, since there is no practical use for the effect in this arena. (why use this force to do anything? Chips seem to work fine)

Neat quantum effect though.

Re:So basically...

[Misanthropic Lycanth]

I think that this might have applications in MEMS technology [mems-exchange.org].

This isn't electronic chips, it's physical force

[Bob_Robertson]

The application isn't in the electronics of what the author calls "silicon chips", it's the mechanical elements that have been created by using the methods of electronic chip manufacture, specifically etching and overlaying.

One question that had come to mind for me was lubrication. If you have two surfaces at any scale that are moving against each other, you will get friction.

This "force" allows for mechanical elements to interact without contact, effectively eliminating friction and wear. The scale seems too small to be directly useful for such things as disk-drive heads, but who knows?

It's an interesting exploration, but I don't expect WD-40 will lose market share to it in the near future.

Bob-

Casimir Force

[Guignol]

Je suis la force qui fait rire
Je m'appelle casimir

*soupir*