Dynamics of noncontact rack-and-pinion device: Periodic back-and-forth motion of the rack

Abstract

We study a nanoscale system composed of one corrugated cylinder (pinion) and one corrugated plate (rack). The pinion and rack have no mechanical contact, but are coupled via the lateral Casimir force. We consider the case where the rack position versus time is a periodic triangular signal. We find that the device can rectify the periodic but nonsinusoidal motion of the rack. Using the typical values of parameters, we find that the pinion rotates with an average angular velocity Ω=1∼100 Hz . Experimental observation of the pinion rotation will show that the quantum vacuum can intermesh the noncontact parts of nanomachines.

Lateral Casimir Force on a Rotating Particle near a Planar Surface

“…However, if the surfaces are corrugated, these forces may have a component parallel to the surface, which is commonly referred to as lateral [9][10][11][12]. The lateral Casimir force has been successfully measured and has been argued to enable interesting applications such as contactless transmission of lateral motion [13][14][15][16][17]. Nevertheless, the force still acts along local surface-normal directions and arises due to the broken mirror symmetry introduced by the corrugations.…”

Casimir rack and pinion: Mechanical rectification of periodic multi-harmonic signals

“…For these values of λ, R, and H ≪ λ T = c/(k B T B ), the amplitude of the lateral Casimir force does not change significantly as temperature raises to T B = 300 K [32]. Typically, the load [19,20]. Thus for F = 0.3 pN and T B = 300 K, we find V S = 3.75 µm/s and D S = 0.18.…”

“…Tiny elements are also susceptible to wear [9][10][11], thus the operation lifetime of miniaturized machines is a concern. To remedy these problems, it has been noticed that the lateral Casimir force [12][13][14][15] can intermesh noncontact parts of nanomachines [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]. In view of designing useful nanoscale mechanical devices, the dependence of Casimir force between bodies on their material and geometrical properties is still a subject of intense investigation [25][26][27][28][29][30][31].…”

“…Inspired by the electronic rectifier based on the diode, a mechanical rectifier based on the Casimir rack and pinion, has been proposed. It has been shown that the pinion rotates with a * Electronic address: mirfaez˙miri@ut.ac.ir nonzero average velocity and works against an external load, whether the rack position versus time is a uniform [17], sinusoidal [18], or periodic triangular signal [19].…”

Casimir force between two substrates within three different layers using the scattering approach

“…The Casimir effect [1] resulting from modifying of the vacuum fluctuations due to the insertion of the boundaries has entered a new era of novel accurate measurements. According to the rapid progress of the nanotechnology and the introduction of the Casimir force offering new possibility for designing nanomechanical systems [2][3][4][5], it will be useful to utilize multilayers in the investigating systems to evaluate Casimir energy. Having a repeating arrangement of thin layers of two different materials, this class of materials plays an important role in different branches of science and technology.…”