A MEMS TRIBOMETER FOR ON-CHIP MEASUREMENTS OF DYNAMIC FRICTION LOOPS

Merlijn W.M. van Spengen (1) , Viviane Turq (1) , Geert G.H.C.J. Wijts (1) , Joost J.W.M. Frenken (1)

1 Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratory, Leiden University

A MEMS based tribometer has been developed that can be read out with nanometer and nano-Newton resolution, approaching the resolution and sensitivity of a friction force microscope (FFM). It can be used to study friction of MEMS device sidewall surfaces. We find repeatable but irregular stick-slip behavior related to the surface roughness or surface modification (wear), depending on the normal force between the sliding surfaces. In addition, we show that normal force modulation can decrease the apparent friction even though the average normal force remains the same. This may be a technologically viable way to reduce friction and wear in microscopic contacts.

Mots clés: friction; tribometer; MEMS; normal force modulation frottement; tribomètre; modulation de force normale

Domaines: Science des matériaux [cond-mat.mtrl-sci]; Micro et nanotechnologies/Microélectronique; Mécanique des matériaux [physics.class-ph]; Mécanique des matériaux [physics.class-ph]

Merlijn W.M. van Spengen, Viviane Turq, Geert G.H.C.J. Wijts, Joost J.W.M. Frenken. A MEMS TRIBOMETER FOR ON-CHIP MEASUREMENTS OF DYNAMIC FRICTION LOOPS. Micromechancis Europe 2007, 18th Workshop on Micromachining, Micromechanics and Microsystems Europe (MME 2007), Sep 2007, Guimaraes, Portugal. pp.MM23. ⟨hal-00276905⟩