Nano/Micro-friction properties or Chemical Vapor Deposited (CVD) Self-assembled monolayers on Si-wafer

Nano/micro-scale studies on friction properties were conducted on Si (100) and three self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) (PFOTC, DMDM, DPDM) coated on Si-wafer by chemical vapor deposition technique. Experiments were conducted at ambient temperature $(24{\pm}1^{\circ}C)$ and humidity $(45{\pm}5\%)$. Nano-friction was evaluated using Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) in the range of 0-40nN normal loads. In both Si-wafer and SAMs, friction increased linearly as a function of applied normal load. Results showed that friction was affected by the inherent adhesion in Si-wafer, and in the case of SAMs the physical/chemical structures had a major influence. Coefficient of friction of these test samples was also evaluated at the micro-scale using a micro-tribotester. It was observed that SAMs had superior frictional property due to their low interfacial energies. In order to study of the effect of contact area on friction coefficient at the micro-scale, friction was measured for Si-wafer and DPDM against Soda Lime balls (Duke Scientific Corporation) of different radii 0.25 mm, 0.5 mm and 1 mm at different applied normal loads $(1500,\;3000\;and\;4800{\mu}N)$. Results showed that Si-wafer had higher friction coefficient than DPDM. Furthermore, unlike that in the case of DPDM, friction was severely influenced by wear in the case of Si-wafer. SEM evidences showed that solid-solid adhesion to be the wear mechanism in Si-wafer.