Nanotip indentation of a coated surface

/images/tipJOM.jpg — Journal cover (JOM).

/images/tip1.jpg — The 100 Å radius silica tip contacting the coated substrate.

/images/tip2.jpg — Deformation of the monolayer coating under the tip.

/images/tip3.jpg — Damage to the coating layer due to the tip.

/images/tipLang.jpg — Journal cover (Langmuir); the tip image is in the lower center.

Work by Mike Chandross, Chris Lorenz, Mark Stevens, and Gary Grest at Sandia.

A 100 Å radius silica tip makes contact with a silica substrate, coated with a self-assembled monolayer of alkyl silanes, for a study of friction and wear. The snapshots were made with VMD and show deformation and damage to the coating layer due to the tip.

Related publications

Nanotribology of Anti-Friction Coatings in MEMS, M. Chandross, C. D. Lorenz, G. S. Grest, M. J. Stevens, and E. B. Webb III, JOM 57, 55 (2005). doi:10.1007/s11837-005-0117-y
Systematic study of the effect of disorder on nanotribology of self-assembled monolayers, M. Chandross, E. B. Webb III, M. J. Stevens, G. S. Grest, and S. H. Garofalini, Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 166103 (2004). doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.93.166103
Simulations of Nanotribology with Realistic Probe Tip Models, M. Chandross, C. D. Lorenz, M. J. Stevens, and G. S. Grest, Langmuir 24, 1240 (2008). doi:10.1021/la702323y