14 DAY TRIAL // Applied physicists at Harvard University in Massachusetts, led by Federico Capasso, managed to set the groundwork for a new class of tiny electronic devices that will incorporate nanomechanics, to be applied in various areas of next-generation technological development. Basically, the team managed to figure out how to make tiny objects levitate and defeated the Casimir force, which tends to attract very small metallic particles, sticking them together and preventing the good functioning of nano- or even molecular machines.
"This is an experiment we are sure will work," says Capasso, admitting that his team has yet to actually levitate any object, regardless of size. "We started to play with nanomechanics or micromechanics. We just have to do it," the scientist added. His confidence comes from the fact that the team already discovered the basic principles of levitation in tiny objects, which was the main obstacle in the path of progress in this field.
Instead of using two very small pieces of metal in a micromachine, Capasso learned that using different materials, with similar properties, might actually prove to be more beneficial, on account of the fact that quantum mechanics shows that each particle, regardless of the chemical element it represents, exerts a certain force on other particles, be it attraction or rejection.
In other words, by carefully selecting materials to go into the tiny device, the researchers can even those forces out, making the particles stay aloft in reference to each other, which is basically what levitation means. If they are successful in their endeavor, the scientists will be able to solve one of the major problems nano-devices are confronted with, which is stiction.
Stiction appears when Casimir's force draws similar particles together, sticking them and jamming the entire device. With this obstacle out of the way, new classes of devices with applications in technology and medicine could be created, bringing about innovation in all fields it influences.