NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY 562 CHIMIA 2002, 56, No. 10 Chimia 56 (2002) 562–565 © Schweizerische Chemische Gesellschaft ISSN 0009–4293 Nanotribology Enrico Gnecco, Roland Bennewitz, and Ernst Meyer* Abstract: The study of friction and wear processes on the nanometer scale is related to the development of the atomic force microscope, where laser beams and piezoelectric elements are used to detect the motion of a micro tip across a surface in a controlled way. Friction on the nanometer scale has peculiar characteris- tics which are not revealed by macroscopic tools. Well-known concepts such as the coefficient of friction and the independence of friction from the scan velocity must be modified. The load dependence of friction is based on the non-linear relation ; the velocity dependence is determined by thermally activated processes. The environment plays also an important role and different humidity conditions may lead to different friction, due to the formation of capillary necks in the contact area. A practical use of the atomic force microscope is to check the quality of surface preparation by comparing the responses of materials un- der different friction and wear conditions. Interesting applications are given by magnetic storage devices and micro-electromechanical systems. Keywords: Atomic force microscopy · Friction · Wear The term tribology comes from the ancient impact of such research is easily imagina- by a feedback loop, friction can be moni- Greek word tribos, which means to rub. It ble. As an example, it is estimated that tored at a given load while scanning. In was used for the first time in 1966 by Peter about $200 billion per year are wasted in such a context, the AFM is also referred to Jost, and, in current use, it refers to the the U.S. due to ignorance of tribology [1]. as the friction force microscope (FFM). study of friction, wear, lubrication, and A significant part of this sum could be Due to the precision of the piezoelectric el- contact mechanics. Nanotribology encom- saved by improving our knowledge of fric- ements that control the relative displace- passes the same topics but it focuses tion and wear on the small scale. The ment, nanometer resolution is often achiev- on processes occurring on the nanometer macroscopic results of tribology cannot be ed in a controlled atmosphere or under scale. Nanotribology aims to realize two directly extrapolated to the micro and nano- ultra-high vacuum (UHV) conditions. important tasks: (i) to give insight into the world. If the linear size of a component is M. Mate and coworkers first measured fric- microscopic origin of friction and wear, and reduced by a factor 10, the area of the sur- tion with atomic features between a tung- (ii) to exploit the knowledge so acquired for face is reduced ten times less than the vol- sten tip and a graphite surface in air in 1987 the optimization of micro devices. Consid- ume, which implies that the resistive forces, [3]. Forces of a few tens of micronewton ering the spreading tendency towards proportional to the area of sliding, are re- were detected with interferometric tech- miniaturization in the data storage and duced ten times less than the inertial forces, niques. Nowadays, commercial AFMs can microelectronics industry, the economic proportional to the volume of the compo- easily reveal frictional forces in the sub- nent. Of course, classical tools in tribologi- nano–newton range, which is of great inter- cal research, such pin-on-disc tribometers, est for the development of nanoscience and are not so useful when dealing with con- related technologies. tacts formed by a few atoms. The contact between two macroscopic The observation of tribological process- surfaces involves thousands of micro asper- es down to the nanometer scale was made ities. The AFM tip sliding on the underlying possible by the atomic force microscope sample represents a single asperity a few (AFM), introduced by Binnig, Quate and nanometer in size. The mechanics of a sin- Gerber in 1986 [2]. A sketch of the micro- gle contact differs from that of a multiple scope is shown in Fig. 1. The instrument re- contact. If the tip has a spherical termina- veals the forces acting on a tip sliding on a tion the friction force, f, is related to the *Correspondence: Prof. E. Meyer surface by means of a laser beam reflected applied normal force, F , by the Hertzian University of Basel N Department of Physics on the rear of a micro cantilever that sup- relation [4], which seems to be in Klingelbergstrasse 82 ports the tip. The normal force between tip contradiction with the well-known Amon- CH–4056 Basel and surface causes the vertical deflection of ton’s law, f ∝ F . However, Amonton’s law Tel.: +41 61 267 3724 N Fax: +41 61 267 3784 the cantilever, and the friction force causes is recovered when statistical distributions E-Mail: [email protected] its torsion. If the deflection is kept constant of single asperities are considered [5]. NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY 563 CHIMIA 2002, 56, No. 10 Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of a beam-deflection AFM Experiments on graphite, diamond, amor- course, on the surface under investigation. (Fig. 2b), which proves the material-specif- phous carbon, ionic crystals, and metals Although chemical identification is not ic contrast achieved by friction force mi- revealed that adhesive forces play an im- possible by frictional mapping, useful in- croscopy. portant role in the contact between tip and formation is drawn in particular cases. On the atomic scale friction maps are far surface [4][6–9]. These effects are consid- Fig. 2a shows a friction map detected on a from uniform, as they reproduce the struc- ered in extended Hertzian models, which silicon sample covered by two monolayers ture of the surface lattice. Fig. 3a shows a agree well with the experimental data in ex- of a Langmuir-Blodgett film [15]. The two friction force map obtained with a silicon treme cases where elastic deformation or, materials react differently to the stress ex- tip sliding on sodium chloride in UHV. A conversely, adhesion dominates [10][11]. erted by the tip, and the uncovered regions single scan line across the surface shows a Even the classical Coulomb’s law of fric- of the substrate are easily recognized in the saw tooth behavior with the periodicity of tion, which states that friction is independ- friction map. This kind of information is not the lattice (Fig. 3b). When the scan direc- ent of the sliding speed, is not fulfilled in revealed by the corresponding topography tion is inverted the lateral force is also re- AFM experiments, where relative veloci- ties lie in the nm/s to µm/s range. In such a case logarithmic dependencies of friction on velocity are found due to thermally acti- vated processes occurring in the contact regions. The chemical bonds in the contact area may be suddenly broken by thermal vi- brations, an effect which is enhanced at low speeds, where it provokes a slight decrease of friction. This behavior was observed on ionic crystals and metals in UHV [12][13] and recently also on hydrophobic surfaces in controlled humidity [14]. In contrast, hy- drophilic surfaces exhibit a different behav- ior, where friction decreases with velocity, due to the formation of capillary bridges, which hinder the detachment of the surfaces. In a well-defined environment, the fric- tional response of the AFM depends, of Fig. 2. (a) Topography and (b) friction image of two bilayers of Cd-arachidate on a silicon wafer. NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY 564 CHIMIA 2002, 56, No. 10 versed. The area of the friction loop so ob- damaged surface [18]; for example, we A different kind of energy dissipation is tained corresponds to the energy dissipated have observed debris of potassium bromide observed when the AFM is operated in non- in a complete scan. A mean energy of about in UHV recrystallized in mounds with the contact mode (NC-AFM), i.e. the cantilever 1 eV per ‘tooth’ was dissipated in the case same lattice distance and orientation of the is excited close to its resonance frequency of Fig. 3. These features are the direct con- original surface (Fig. 4). The AFM revealed and the energy required to keep the oscilla- sequence of the stick-slip movement of the that this kind of wear consisted of a contin- tion amplitude constant is monitored [19]. tip, which, driven by the cantilever, jumps uous abrasion of the surface, rather than of The origin of dissipation in NC-AFM is not periodically from a given equilibrium posi- a series of abrupt rupture events; a quantifi- clear, although it is recognized that Joule tion on the lattice to the next one. Due to the cation of the energy dissipated in the wear dissipation has a primary role at long dis- thermal activation, jumps occur at different process is also possible. Fig. 5 shows five tances. Very recently, energy dissipation angles of torsion. A simple explanation of pits obtained by vibrating the AFM tip on was measured when the torsional oscilla- the atomic stick-slip relies on the Tomlin- KBr with different loads. For example, the tion of the cantilever is excited [20]; in fu- son model [16]; an analytical discussion of second pit corresponds to the removal of ture it is not excluded that the energy loss- the model, which includes thermal effects, 850 couples of ions, whereas the energy es observed with FFM and NC-AFM will is given in [17]. dissipated to produce it could break 2850 be considered in an unified framework. The Tomlinson model loses its validity atomic bonds, as estimated from the areas Besides AFM, other experimental tech- if plastic deformation and wear take place, of the friction loops acquired by scanning.