• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.189-195
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• 2003

Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) has been widely used in micro/nano-scale studies and applications for. the last few decade. In this work, wear characteristics of silicon-based AFM tip was investigated. AFM tip shape was observed using a high resolution SEM and the wear coefficient was approximately calculated based on Archard's wear equation. It was shown that the wear coefficient of silicon and silicon nitride were in the range of ${10}^{-1}$~${10}^{-3}$ and ${10}^{-3}$~${10}^{-4}$, respectively. Also, the effect of relative humidity and sliding distance on adhesion-induced tip wear was discussed. It was found that the tip wear has more severe for harder test materials. Finally, the probable wear mechanism was analyzed from the adhesive and abrasive interaction point of view.