Atomic scale friction sliding

Gao G, Cannara RJ, Carpick RW, Harrison JA (2007) Atomic-scale friction on diamtmd a comparison of different sliding directions on (001) and (111) surfaces using MD and AFM. Langmuir 23 5394—5405... 

As a final point, we note that typical surfaces are usually not crystalline but instead are covered by amorphous layers. These layers are much rougher at the atomic scale than the model crystalline surfaces that one would typically use for computational convenience or for fundamental research. The additional roughness at the microscopic level from disorder increases the friction between surfaces considerably, even when they are separated by a boundary lubricant.15 Flowever, no systematic studies have been performed to explore the effect of roughness on boundary-lubricated systems, and only a few attempts have been made to investigate dissipation mechanisms in the amorphous layers under sliding conditions from an atomistic point of view. 

The three major new atomic-scale experimental methods developed in the last decade are the quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) [2 4], atomic and friction force microscopes (AFM/FFM) [5,6], and the surface force apparatus (SEA) [7,7a,8]. These new tools reveal complementary information about tribology at the nanometer scale. The QCM measures dissipation as an adsorbed him of submonolayer to several monolayer thickness slides over a substrate. AFM and FFM explore the interactions between a surface and a tip whose radius of curvature is 10 100 nm [9]. The number of atoms in the contact ranges from a few to a few thousand. Larger radii of curvature and contacts have been examined by gluing spheres to an AFM cantilever [10,11]. SEA experiments measure shear forces in even larger-diameter ( 10 pm) contacts, but with angstrom-scale control of the thickness of lubricating hlms. 

While the macroscopic concepts of hardness, adhesion, friction, and slide have evolved over the last two centuries, atomic level understanding of the mechanical properties of surfaces eluded researchers. The discovery of the atomic force microscope in recent years promises to change this state of affairs. Being able to measure forces as small as 10 newton or as large as 10 newton [5] over a very small surface area (few atoms) and by simultaneously providing atomic spatial resolution, this technique permits the study of deformation (elastic and plastic), hardness, and friction on the atomic scale. The buried interface between moving solid surfaces can be studied with spectroscopic techniques on the molecular level. Study of the mechanical properties of interfaces is, again, a frontier research area of surface chemistry. 

Although atomic-scale studies of friction have not been carried out until recently—because of the lack of techniques such as the AFM—several mechanisms for friction and slide that depend on the physical and chemical properties of the materials in contact have been suggested. For example, friction and wear of metal surfaces are the highest for ductile materials. This can be understood in terms of the plastic flow that occurs at the interface for these materials under normal loads. With this plastic flow, adhesion proportional to the load also occurs, leading to increased friction and wear. In addition, the oxidation of a metal at the interface can also affect the degree of the friction. If the oxide of a metal has a higher hardness value than the metal itself, measured friction coefficients will be lowered upon oxidation. If,... 

Can the observed behaviour on the macroscopic and microstructural scales be reconciled with what we know about frictional sliding under these conditions To answer this question, we turn to other reported work with mica in which the real and apparent areas of contact coincide. Johnson reports that experiments with an atomic friction microscope (AFM), on mica in which the contact dimension is 2 to 10 nm, indicate a frictional shear stress of 1 GPa. Other measurements performed with a surface force apparatus (SFA), in which the contact dimension is in the order... 

Figure 5 Typical velocity relationship of kinetic friction for a sliding contact in which friction is from adsorbed layers confined between two incommensurate walls. The kinetic friction F is normalized by the static friction Fs. At extremely small velocities v, the confined layer is close to thermal equilibrium and, consequently, F is linear in v, as to be expected from linear response theory. In an intermediate velocity regime, the velocity dependence of F is logarithmic. Instabilities or pops of the atoms can be thermally activated. At large velocities, the surface moves too quickly for thermal effects to play a role. Time-temperature superposition could be applied. All data were scaled to one reference temperature. Reprinted with permission from Ref. 25. 

Simulations of incommensurate surfaces showed a similar dependence on Vi, with first-order instabilities occurring if Vi < Vj, where Vj is some positive, critical value that depends on the degree of mismatch between the lattice constants of the top and bottom surfaces. This process leads to nonvanishing Fk as l o goes to zero. In the case where Vi < V, the atoms are dragged with the wall that exerts the maximum lateral force. It, in turn, leads to friction that scales linearly with the sliding velocity. As a result, the friction force will go to zero with vq. 

Friction is the tangential resistance offered to the sliding of one solid over another, due to dry friction. Friction is an apparently simple phenomenon with very complex mechanisms that take place on a variety of length scales, from atomic to nano and up. The study of friction is part of the engineering-scientific discipline of tribology,3 which is the scientific study of friction, wear, and lubrication (6). It was Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) who discovered the first two laws of friction, namely, that the area of contact has no effect on friction and that friction is proportional to the load. These two laws were rediscovered later by Guillaume Amontons (1663-1705), and later Charles-Augustin Coulomb (1736-1806), added the third law ... 

An atomic force microscope is used to stuviscoelastic state at the temperature of experiment. It is shown that, during the preliminary phase of friction and before the transition to the sliding regime, the contact area remains nearly constant. This allows for a determination of the relaxation and of the complex modulus of the material. A good agreement is found between moduli measured by this method and macroscopically determined ones. The position of the transition is seen to scale with the characteristic size of the contact area but it does not depend on the displacement velocity. Finally, a transient stick-slip regime is observed before the sliding steady state is reached. 

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