Effects of Self-Assembled Monolayer and PFPE Lubricant on Wear Characteristics of Flat Silicon Tips

Abstract

The effects of self-assembled monolayer (SAM) and perfluoropolyether (PFPE) lubricant on the wear characteristics of flat silicon tips were investigated. The wear test consisted of sliding the silicon tips fabricated on a flat silicon specimen against SAM and PFPE (Z-tetraol) coated silicon (100) wafer. The tips were slid at a low speed for about 15 km under an applied load of 39.2 lN. The wear volume of the tip was obtained by measuring the tip profile using an Atomic Force Microscope (AFM). It was found that the coatings were effective in reducing the wear of the tips by an order of magnitude from 10 -6 to 10 -7 .

Tailoring the near-Surface Composition Profiles of Pressure-Sensitive Adhesive Films and the Resulting Mechanical Properties

“…They affect, for example, the wetting of the punch and the stickiness to the polymer although the surface roughness of the probe is unchanged. For silicon, the ratio between the surface tension of the punch and the polymeric components is significantly higher than for steel. , Therefore, composition variations close to the surface have a bigger impact when steel is chosen as the punch material. In summary, this means that for the tuning of the adhesive performance of a PSA via the RH, also the choice of the material of the adherent plays a significant role.…”

“…components is significantly higher than for steel. 57,58 Therefore, composition variations close to the surface have a bigger impact when steel is chosen as the punch material. In summary, this means that for the tuning of the adhesive performance of a PSA via the RH, also the choice of the material of the adherent plays a significant role.…”

Lubricant evolution and depletion under laser heating: a molecular dynamics study

“…x and s 2 y are the non-dimensional standard deviations of the temperature distribution. Coupling eqn (7) and (8), the temperature dependence of surface tension in the transverse plane can be obtained as gðx; yÞ ¼ g 0…”

“…The main features of PFPE lubricants are their unreactive, nontoxic, and non-flammable fluid properties. 6,7 Recently, polar PFPE with hydroxyl terminal groups, such as Fomblin Z-dol, 6 is frequently used to improve the bonding of lubricant to the solid surface together with the excellent lateral mobility to diffuse and recover the worn surface regions. 5 Recent studies show that the laser technique has revolutionary advances in the field of micro-and nano-machining, surface texturing and modification, printing technique, optical projection, hard disk storage, etc., due to its high peak power, instant high energy density values and localized heating.…”

Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Perfluoropolyether Lubricant Degradation in the Presence of Oxygen, Water, and Oxide Nanoparticles using a ReaxFF Reactive Force Field

“…Per­fluoro­poly­ether (PFPE) lubricants are widely used in computer hard drive media surfaces. These lubricants also have other applications, such as in vacuum pumps, aircraft instrument bearings, reactive chemical environments, and electric motors. − PFPEs are particularly promising lubricants for HDDs due to their numerous advantageous properties, including chemical inertness, thermal stability, low volatility, nonflammability, low surface tension, and shear stability. − Fomblin and Demnum are two main categories of PFPE lubricants which are used in HDDs. Fomblin lubricants such as Z and Zdol consist of a linear backbone chain of X-(OCF 2 -CF 2 )­p­(OCF 2 )­q-O-X in which X is the end group and p and q are the numbers of repeating units.…”