A novel experimental approach for the detection of the dynamical Casimir effect

¹ Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Ferrara and INFN Via del Paradiso 12, 44100 Ferrara, Italy
² INFN, Sezione di Pavia - Via Bassi 6, 27100 Pavia, Italy
³ INFN, Sezione di Padova - Via Marzolo 8, 35131 Padova, Italy
⁴ INFN, LNL - Viale dell'Università 2, 35020 Legnaro, Italy
⁵ INFN, Sezione di Roma - P.le A. Moro 2, 00185 Roma, Italy

Corresponding author: ruoso@lnl.infn.it

Received: 21 January 2005
Accepted: 27 April 2005

Abstract

In order to observe the Casimir radiation we propose a new experimental scheme with no mechanically moving mirror. In fact we estimate that the power required for a sustained mechanical vibration would be beyond present experimental possibilities. Our apparatus consists of a superconducting electromagnetic resonant cavity with a wall covered by a semiconductor layer whose reflectivity is driven by a laser at gigahertz frequencies. The semiconductor thus acts as a moving mirror. Preliminary laboratory tests showed that a semiconductor can indeed reflect microwaves as efficiently as a conductor. In this paper we present the complete scheme that we intend to set up for the detection of the Casimir radiation.