Simulations of the anisotropy of friction force between a silicon tip and a substrate at nanoscale

Abstract

In this article, the anisotropy of the friction force with a variety of rotation angles between a silicon tip and a substrate was investigated using molecular dynamics simulations. When the silicon tip slides over the silicon substrate under incommensurate contacting surfaces, the results of the simulations illustrate that the sliding friction forces decrease with the increase of the rotation angle from 0° to 45° and increase with the increase of the rotation angle from 45° to 90°. Furthermore, an approximate symmetrical curve of the friction force for the 45° angle can be obtained, and the friction force is minimum and close to superlubricity at the 45° angle. However, at the same angle, the friction force stops decreasing with the increase of the temperature and its magnitude depends mainly on the degree of the commensurability of the contacting surfaces rather than the temperature.

Keywords

Anisotropy friction force superlubricity temperature molecular dynamics

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Hirano

Shinjo

. Atomistic locking and friction. Phys Rev B 1990; 41(17): 11837–11851.

Luo

. Advancements and future of tribology. Lubr Eng 2010; 35(12): 1–12.

Hirano

Shinjo

Kaneko

. Anisotropy of frictional forces in muscovite mica. Phys Rev Lett 1991; 67(19): 2642–2645.

Gellman

. Friction anisotropy at Ni(100)-Ni(100) interfaces. Langmuir 2000; 16: 8343–8351.

Dienwiebel

Verhoeven

Pradeep

. Superlubricity of graphite. Phys Rev Lett 2004; 92(12): 126101, 1–4.

Sorensen

Jacobsen

Stoltze

. Simulations of atomic-scale sliding friction. Phys Rev B 1996; 53(4): 2101–2113.

Luo

Wen

. Developments and unsolved problems in nano-lubrication. Prog Nat Sci 2001; 11(3): 173–183.

Müser

Robbins

. Atomistic computer simulations of Nanotribology. In: Bhushan

(ed.) Springer handbook of nanotechnology. Berlin: Springer-Verlag, pp.717–738, 2004.

Landman

Luedtke

Nitzan

. Dynamics of tip-substrate interactions in atomic force microscopy. Surf Sci Lett 1989; 210(3): L177–L184.

10.

Harrison

White

Colton

. Molecular-dynamics simulations of atomic-scale friction of diamond surfaces. Phys Rev B 1992; 46(15): 9700–9708.

11.

Sorensen

Jacobsen

Stoltze

. Simulations of atomic-scale sliding friction. Phys Rev B 1996; 53(4): 2101–2113.

12.

Kim

Falk

. Atomic-scale simulations on the sliding of incommensurate surfaces: the breakdown of superlubricity. Phys Rev B 2009; 80(23): 235428, 1–11.

13.

Turner

Szlufarska

. Friction laws at the nanoscale. Nature 2009; 457(7233): 1116–1119.

14.

Zykova-Timan

Ceresoli

Tosatti

. Peak effect versus skating in high-temperature nanofriction. Nat Mater 2007; 6: 230–234.

15.

Tersoff

. New empirical approach for the structure and energy of covalent systems. Phys Rev B 1988; 37(12): 6991–7000.

16.

Tersoff

. Modeling solid-state chemistry: interatomic potentials for multicomponent systems. Phys Rev B 1989; 39(8): 5566–5568.

17.

Shimizu

Eda

Yoritsune

. Molecular dynamics simulation of friction on the atomic scale. Nanotechnology 1998; 9: 118–123.

18.

Mulliah

Kenny

Smith

. Modeling of stick-slip phenomena using molecular dynamics. Phys Rev B 2004; 69: 205407, 1–8.

19.

Krylov

Frenken

JWM

. The crucial role of temperature in atomic scale friction. J Phys: Condens Mat 2008; 20: 354003, 1–7.