Abstract
The Casimir forces between a gold sphere and a thin graphite layer whose thickness is less than 100 nm are calculated for three types of substrates: gold, silicon, and vitreous silicon oxide. For a fixed separation distance between the sphere and the surface of the graphite layer, the absolute values of the Casimir force increase as the thickness of the graphite layer increases for the substrates of silicon and vitreous silicon oxide, in contrast, the absolute value of the Casimir force decreases for the gold substrate. These changes are pronounced for a small separation distance, particularly for vitreous silicon oxide. Numerical results suggest that the dependence of the Casimir force on the thickness of a graphite layer can be measured using existing technology if the separation distance is sufficiently small. [DOI: 10.1380/ejssnt.2010.287]
