Sonny White updates his work on using nanoscale fabrication to harness the Casimir effect. He has a company, Casimir space, working to commercialize it.
The Casimir force in quantum mechanics has empty space (the quantum vacuum) is filled with fluctuating fields, virtual particles, and energy wavelengths. When two metal plates are placed very close (e.g., 100 nanometers apart) in a vacuum, wavelengths larger than the gap are excluded between them, creating a negative pressure that pushes the plates together. This was theorized by Hendrik Casimir in 1948 and experimentally confirmed in 1996-1997.
White is making static nanostructures on silicon chips using standard semiconductor techniques. The cavity walls are fixed to the substrate and electrically connected, with antenna-like pillars in the gap’s center (which are also fixed). The quantum field interacts asymmetrically: it stimulates electrons in the walls to quantum tunnel to the pillars, but the pillars’ protected environment (like a calm lagoon amid ocean waves) reduces the return tunneling probability. This creates a preferential electron flow, generating continuous power when connected to a load (this is like a resistor or LED).