A New Probe for Fricition Measurements at Very Small Scales

摘要

Several AFM-type instruments exist that are capable of measuring friction force, some of them are commercially available. However, they are limited in range. Similarly, friction measurements have been made with conventional stylus profilometers at rather greater normal contact forces. Following from the work of Howard and SMith (1992), a new instrument has been built to measure simultaneously the surface profile and lateral forces experienced by a stylus tip traversing the surface.