  We discuss recent experimental and theoretical results on the Casimir force
between real material bodies made of different materials. Special attention is
paid to calculations of the normal Casimir force acting perpendicular to the
surface with the help of the Lifshitz theory taking into account the role of
free charge carriers. Theoretical results for the thermal Casimir force acting
between metallic, dielectric and semiconductor materials are presented and
compared with available experimental data. Main attention is concentrated on
the possibility to control the magnitude and sign of the Casimir force for
applications in nanotechnology. In this respect we consider experiments on the
optical modulation of the Casimir force between metal and semiconductor test
bodies with laser light. Another option is the use of ferromagnetic materials,
specifically, ferromagnetic dielectrics. Under some conditions this allows to
get Casimir repulsion. The lateral Casimir force acting between sinusoidally
corrugated surfaces can be considered as some kind of noncontact friction
caused by zero-point oscillations of the electromagnetic field. Recent
experiments and computations using the exact theory have demonstrated the role
of diffraction-type effects in this phenomenon and the possibility to get
asymmetric force profiles. Conclusion is made that the Casimir force may play
important role in the operation of different devices on the nanoscale.
