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Thermally activated phenomena observed by atomic force microscopy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

Enrico Gnecco ,
Elisa Riedo ,
Roland Bennewitz ,
Ernst Meyer  and
Harald Brune
Enrico Gnecco
Affiliation:
Institute of Physics, University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 82, CH-4056 Basel, Switzerland
Elisa Riedo
Affiliation:
Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Physics, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
Roland Bennewitz
Affiliation:
Institute of Physics, University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 82, CH-4056 Basel, Switzerland
Ernst Meyer
Affiliation:
Institute of Physics, University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 82, CH-4056 Basel, Switzerland
Harald Brune
Affiliation:
Institut de Physique des Nanostructures, EPFL, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
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Abstract

Thermal effects may affect the velocity dependence of friction on the nanoscale in different ways. In a dry environment the stick-slip motion of a nanotip sliding across a crystalline surface is modified by thermal vibrations, which leads to a logarithmic increase of friction with the sliding velocity at very low speeds (v < 10 μm/s). At higher speeds the role of thermal activation is negligible, and friction becomes velocity-independent. An analytical expression, which explains both regimes of friction vs. velocity, is introduced. In a humid environment the situation is complicated by water capillaries formed between tip and surface, which act as obstacles for thermally activated jumps. Depending on the wettability of the surface, different tendencies in the velocity dependence are observed.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 790: Symposium P – Dynamics in Small Confining Systems–2003 , 2003 , P1.3
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2004

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References

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