Non-reciprocal energy transfer through the Casimir effect

Understand

A fundamental prediction of quantum mechanics is that there are random fluctuations everywhere in a vacuum because of the zero-point energy.

• Remarkably, quantum electromagnetic fluctuations can induce a measurable force between neutral objects, known as the Casimir effect, which has attracted broad interests.
• The Casimir effect can dominate the interaction between microstructures at small separations and has been utilized to realize nonlinear oscillation, quantum trapping, phonon transfer, and dissipation dilution.
• However, a non-reciprocal device based on quantum vacuum fluctuations remains an unexplored frontier.