From: hal@finney.org
Date: Thu Jan 24 2002 - 14:09:43 MST
Mike Lorrey writes:
> It seems that some researchers, including some at NASA, are researching
> the use of MEMS devices to extract energy from Zero Point Field quantum
> fluctuations:
>
> http://www.trnmag.com/Stories/021401/Quantum_effect_moves_machine_021401.html
They're not exactly extracting energy in the sense of using it as a
power source, but the Casimir force can apparently be used in very
low distance sensing applications.
I was surprised to read:
> The Casimir effect is already a problem for fabricating MEMS devices
> because at very short distances free surfaces tend to stick together,
> said Mohideen. "During the fabrication step, it is very hard to make
> free moving surfaces such as cantilevers [and] bridges which are
> separated by short distances," he said.
Drexler's book Nanosystems has a great deal of analysis of friction
and the forces experienced by atomically-smooth surfaces in contact.
However I don't think he discusses the Casimir force. It sounds like it
could be a significant factor in the kinds of nano- mechanical designs
that Drexler considered.
Hal
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