Observing the Casimir-Lifshitz Force Out of Thermal Equilibrium

The thermal Casimir-Lifshitz force among two bodies held at different temperatures displays striking features that are absent in systems in thermal equilibrium. The manifestation of this force has been observed so far only in Bose-Einstein condensates close to a heated substrate, but never between two macroscopic bodies. Observation of the thermal Casimir-Lifhitz force out of thermal equilibrium with conventional Casimir setups is very difficult, because for experimentally accessible separations the thermal force is small compared to the zero-temperature quantum Casimir force, unless prohibitively large temperature differences among the plates are considered. We describe an apparatus that allows for a direct observation of the thermal force out of equilibrium for submicron separations and for moderate temperature differences between the plates.