The Casimir Effect is a physical manifestation of quantum fluctuations of the electromagnetic vacuum. When two metal plates are placed close together, typically much less than a micron, the long wavelength modes between them are frozen out, giving rise to a net attractive force between the plates, scaling as d⁻⁴ (or d⁻³ for a spherical-planar geometry) even when they are not electrically charged. In this paper, we observe the Casimir Effect in ambient conditions using a modified capacitive micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) sensor. Using a feedback-assisted pick-and-place assembly process, we are able to attach various microstructures onto the post-release MEMS, converting it from an inertial force sensor to a direct force measurement platform with pN (piconewton) resolution. With this system we are able to directly measure the Casimir force between a silver-coated microsphere and gold-coated silicon plate. This device is a step towards leveraging the Casimir Effect for cheap, sensitive, room temperature quantum metrology.

卡西米尔效应是电磁真空量子涨落的物理表现。当两个金属板靠近放置时，通常远小于一微米，它们之间的长波长模式被冻结，在板之间产生净吸引力，缩放为d ^-4（或d ^-3对于球面几何），即使它们不带电。在本文中，我们使用改进的电容微机电系统 (MEMS) 传感器观察环境条件下的卡西米尔效应。使用反馈辅助的拾放装配工艺，我们能够将各种微结构连接到发布后的 MEMS 上，将其从惯性力传感器转换为具有 pN（皮牛顿）分辨率的直接力测量平台。使用该系统，我们能够直接测量镀银微球和镀金硅板之间的卡西米尔力。该设备是朝着利用卡西米尔效应进行廉价、灵敏、室温量子计量迈出的一步。