• Tribology and Lubricants
• /
• v.11 no.5
• /
• pp.128-135
• /
• 1995

Atomic force microscopy/friction force microscopy (AFM/FFM) techniques are increasingly used for tribological studies of engineering surfaces at scales, ranging from atomic and molecular to microscales. These techniques have been used to study surface roughness, adhesion, friction, scratching/wear, indentation, detection of material transfer, and boundary lubrication and for nanofabrication/nanomachining purposes. Micro/nanotribological studies of single-crystal silicon, natural diamond, magnetic media (magnetic tapes and disks) and magnetic heads have been conducted. Commonly measured roughness parameters are found to be scale dependent, requiring the need of scale-independent fractal parameters to characterize surface roughness. Measurements of atomic-scale friction of a freshly-cleaved highly-oriented pyrolytic graphite exhibited the same periodicity as that of corresponding topography. However, the peaks in friction and those in corresponding topography were displaced relative to each other. Variations in atomic-scale friction and the observed displacement has been explained by the variations in interatomic forces in the normal and lateral directions. Local variation in microscale friction is found to correspond to the local slope suggesting that a ratchet mechanism is responsible for this variation. Directionality in the friction is observed on both micro- and macro scales which results from the surface preparation and anisotropy in surface roughness. Microscale friction is generally found to be smaller than the macrofriction as there is less ploughing contribution in microscale measurements. Microscale friction is load dependent and friction values increase with an increase in the normal load approaching to the macrofriction at contact stresses higher than the hardness of the softer material. Wear rate for single-crystal silicon is approximately constant for various loads and test durations. However, for magnetic disks with a multilayered thin-film structure, the wear of the diamond like carbon overcoat is catastrophic. Breakdown of thin films can be detected with AFM. Evolution of the wear has also been studied using AFM. Wear is found to be initiated at nono scratches. AFM has been modified to obtain load-displacement curves and for nanoindentation hardness measurements with depth of indentation as low as 1 mm. Scratching and indentation on nanoscales are the powerful ways to screen for adhesion and resistance to deformation of ultrathin fdms. Detection of material transfer on a nanoscale is possible with AFM. Boundary lubrication studies and measurement of lubricant-film thichness with a lateral resolution on a nanoscale have been conducted using AFM. Self-assembled monolyers and chemically-bonded lubricant films with a mobile fraction are superior in wear resistance. Finally, AFM has also shown to be useful for nanofabrication/nanomachining. Friction and wear on micro-and nanoscales have been found to be generally smaller compared to that at macroscales. Therefore, micro/nanotribological studies may help def'me the regimes for ultra-low friction and near zero wear.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers P
• /
• v.52 no.3
• /
• pp.107-112
• /
• 2003

Amorphous carbon nitride thin films have been deposited on silicon (100) by reactive magnetron sputtering method. The basic depositon parameters varied were the r.f. power(up to 250 W), the deposition pressure in the reactor(up to 100 mtorr) and Ar:$N_2$ gas ratio. FT-IR and X-ray photoelectron spectra showed the presence of different carbon-nitrogen bonds in the films. The surface topography of the films was studied by scanning electron microscopy(SEM) and atomic force microscopy(AFM).

• Journal of Adhesion and Interface
• /
• v.1 no.1
• /
• pp.47-55
• /
• 2000

In this article, the characterization of the interface of hybrid composites was discussed. Interfacial interaction in organic/inorganic hybrid composites, especially silica-containing hybrids can be characterized by fluorescence spectroscopy, small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and $^{29}Si$ NMR spectroscopy measurements.

• The korean journal of orthodontics
• /
• v.40 no.3
• /
• pp.156-166
• /
• 2010

Objective: The surface roughness of orthodontic materials is an essential factor that determines the coefficient of friction and the effectiveness of tooth movement. The aim of this study is to evaluate the surface roughness change of the brackets and wires after experimental sliding quantitatively. Methods: Before and after experimental sliding tests, the surface roughness of stainless steel brackets, ceramic brackets, stainless steel wires, and beta-titanium (TMA) wires were investigated and compared using atomic force microscopy (AFM). Results: After sliding tests, changes in the surface of the wire were greater than changes in the bracket slot surface. The surface roughness of the stainless steel bracket was not significantly increased after sliding test, whereas the roughness of ceramic brackets was decreased. Both the surface roughness of stainless steel and TMA wires were increased after sliding test. More changes were observed on the ceramic bracket than the stainless steel bracket. Conclusions: AFM is a valuable research tool when analyzing the surface roughness of the brackets and wires quantitatively.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetics Society
• /
• v.11 no.4
• /
• pp.168-172
• /
• 2001

Co-Zn ferrite thin films grown on thermally oxidized silicon wafers were fabricated by a sol-gel method. Magnetic and structural properties of Co-Zn thin films were investigated by using x-ray diffractometer (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), auger electron spectroscopy (AES) and a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). Co-Zn ferrite thin films annealed at 400 $^{\circ}C$ presented have only a single phase spinel structure without any preferred crystallite orientation. Their surface roughness of Co-Zn ferrite thin films was shown as less than 3 nm and the grain size was about 40 nm for annealing temperatures over 600 $^{\circ}C$. A moderate saturation magnetization of Co-Zn ferrite thin films for recording media was obtained in this study and there is no significant difference of their magnetic property with those external fields of parallel and perpendicular to planes of the films. The maximum value of the coercivity was obtained as 1,900 Oe for Co-Zn ferrite thin film annealed at 600 $^{\circ}C$.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
• /
• v.5 no.3
• /
• pp.143-152
• /
• 2002

The growth of Polypyrrole film has been investigated during electropolymerization in an aqueous solution on bare and SAM modified gold electrodes by in-situ EQCM and ex-situ AFM. According to the result of cyclic voltammetry measurements, in the case of a bare gold electrode, the electrochemical deposition of polypyrrole were dependent on the limiting oxidative potential, but not on scan numbers. When the limiting potential higher than 0.8 V was applied on the electrode, the amount of polypyrrole deposited on a gold electrode was rapidly increased and the abnormal mass change attributed to the rearrangement of polypyrrole films was observed as the scan number increased. The polypyrrole film Prepared on electrodes modified with 1-dodecanethiol SAM or thiophene SAM grew 3-dimensionally with the rearrangement of film. However, in the case of BPUS SAM, 2-dimensional layer-by-layer growth of film was observed without the rearrangement of film. AFM images showed films with chain-shaped and/ or donut-shaped polymers when grown rapidly and a wrinkled film at the steady state condition.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
• /
• v.31 no.1 s.256
• /
• pp.139-144
• /
• 2007

This paper presents development of carbon nanotube (CNT) tip modified by focused ion beam (FIB) and experimental results in non-contact mode of atomic force microscopy (AFM) using fabricated tip. We used an electric field which causes dielectrophoresis, to align and deposit CNTs on a conventional silicon tip. The morphology of the fabricated CNT tip was then modified into a desired shape using focused ion beam. We measured anodic aluminum oxide sample and trench structure to estimate the performance of FIB-modified tip and compared with those of conventional Si tip. We demonstrate that FIB modified tip in non contact mode had superior characteristics than conventional tip in the respects of wear, image resolution and sidewall measurement.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2014.02a
• /
• pp.411.2-411.2
• /
• 2014

The design of DNA nanostructures is of fundamental importance, the intrinsic value of DNA as a building-block material lies in its ability to organize other bio-molecules with nanometer-scale spacing. Here, we report the fabrication of DNA scaffolds with nano-pores (<10 nm size) that formed easily without the use of additives (i.e., avidin, biotin, polyamine, or inorganic materials) into large-scale structures by assembling DNA molecules at near room temperature ($30^{\circ}C$) and low pH (~5.5). Protein immobilization results also confirmed that a fibronectin (FN) proteins/large scale DNA scaffolds/aminopropylytriethoxysilane (APS)/SiO2/Si substrate with high sensitivity formed in a well-defined manner. The DNA scaffolds can be applied for use with DNA-based biochips, biophysics, and cell biology.

• Applied Science and Convergence Technology
• /
• v.26 no.1
• /
• pp.6-10
• /
• 2017

We investigated the stability of ionic configurations of the tip of the cantilever in non-contact AFM.; For this, we used a computational model that couples the ionic motion of the MgO surface and the oscillating cantilever. The motion of ions was connected to the oscillating cantilever using a coupling method that had been recently developed. The adhesive process on the ionic MgO surface leads to energy dissipation of the cantilever. It is shown that limited types of ionic configurations of the tip are stable during the adhesive process. Based on the present computational model, we discuss the adhesive mechanism leading to energy dissipation.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2011.08a
• /
• pp.111-111
• /
• 2011

Arrangement of individual atoms and molecules with atomic precision and understanding the resulting properties at the molecular level are ultimate goals of chemistry, biology, and materials science. For the past three decades, scanning probe microscopy has made strides towards these goals through the direct observation of individual atoms and molecules, enabling the discovery of new and unexpected phenomena. This talk will discuss the origin of forces governing motion of small organic molecules and their extended self-assembly into two-dimensional surface structures by direct observation of individual molecules using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). In addition, atomic force microscopy (AFM) is utilized for the investigation of fundamental mechanisms of bone mineral dissolution by examining atomically well characterized simulated bone minerals under aqueous solution environments.