Microtribology friction measurements on microtextured silicon

Abstract

This paper describes the results of microtribology sliding experiments that were carried out on a range of micropatterned silicon surfaces. The objective of this work was to identify critical pattern features that control friction and fluid interaction on surfaces under a broad range of contact conditions and develop models to explain these relationships. These scratch tests were carried out in air, and with deionised water. Tests were carried out under a range of test loads and speeds, from low to high. It was found that in the dry tests, the measured friction was higher on the patterned surfaces than on the non-patterned surface. For the liquid experiments, there was a reduction in friction in some cases, dependent on the pattern and conditions used, indicating that the liquid acted as a lubricant. The greatest reduction in friction was obtained with a herringbone pattern aligned perpendicular to the direction of travel of the probe. However, for higher load conditions, high friction coefficients were measured for many of the patterns. The surfaces of the tested silicon samples were examined with optical microscopy and in high resolution scanning electron microscopy so that the interactions between the probe and the sample could be determined. It was found that the high friction values that had been observed in many experiments were correlated with considerable damage to the structure of the patterned silicon surface

Applications of super-resolution imaging in the field of surface topography measurement

“…In all friction regimes, periodic structuring has been investigated and many theories have been used to try to predict function (see e.g. Etsion 2005, Nosonovsky and Bhushan 2007, Winkless et al 2009, Podgornik and Shelacek 2012, Amanov et al 2013, Etsion 2013. However, most of the research has been on the use of structures with dimensions that are above the far-field limit, and it is not clear if the reported improvements can be transferred to the nano-scale.…”