Casimir Interaction of Dielectric Gratings

We derive an exact solution for the Casimir force between two arbitrary periodic dielectric gratings and illustrate our method by applying it to two nanostructured silicon gratings. We also reproduce the Casimir force gradient measured recently [H. B. Chan, Y. Bao, J. Zou, R. A. Cirelli, F. Klemens, W. M. Mansfield, and C. S. Pai, Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 030401 (2008)] between a silicon grating and a gold sphere taking into account the material dependence of the force. We find good agreement between our theoretical results and the measured values both in absolute force values and the ratios between the exact force and proximity force approximation predictions.