Power law load dependence of atomic friction
arXiv:cond-mat/0404044 · doi:10.1063/1.1644617
Abstract
We present a theoretical study of the dynamics of a tip scanning a graphite surface as a function of the applied load. From the analysis of the lateral forces, we extract the friction force and the corrugation of the effective tip-surface interaction potential. We find both the friction force and potential amplitude to have a power law dependence on applied load with exponent $\sim 1.6$. We interpret these results as characteristic of sharp undeformable tips in contrast to the case of macroscopic and elastic microscopic contacts.
4 pages, 4 figures