Casimir-Lifshitz Theory and Metamaterials

Abstract

Based on a generalization of the Lifshiftz theory we calculate Casimir forces involving magnetodielectric and possibly anisotropic metamaterials, focusing on the possibility of repulsive forces. It is found that Casimir repulsion decreases with magnetic dissipation, and even a small Drude background in metallic-based metamaterials acts to make attractive a Casimir force that would otherwise be predicted to be repulsive. The sign of the force also depends sensitively on the degree of optical anisotropy of the metamaterial, and on the form of the frequency-dependency of the magnetic response.

References in corpus (3)

• The Casimir effect within scattering theory
• Quantum levitation by left-handed metamaterials
• Casimir repulsion and metamaterials

Cited by in corpus (5)

• Casimir Interactions for Anisotropic Magnetodielectric Metamaterials
• An alternative calculation of the Casimir forces between birefringent plates
• Orientation-dependent Casimir force arising from highly anisotropic crystals: application to Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+delta
• The Casimir force between dissimilar mirrors and the role of the surface plasmons
• Repulsive Casimir forces and the role of surface modes