scholarly journals Achieving Ultra-Low Friction with Diamond/Metal Systems in Extreme Environments

Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (14) ◽  
pp. 3791
Author(s):  
Pantcho Stoyanov ◽  
Rolf Merz ◽  
Markus Stricker ◽  
Michael Kopnarski ◽  
Martin Dienwiebel

In the search for achieving ultra-low friction for applications in extreme environments, we evaluate the interfacial processes of diamond/tungsten sliding contacts using an on-line macro-tribometer and a micro-tribometer in an ultra-high vacuum. The coefficient of friction for the tests with the on-line tribometer remained considerably low for unlubricated sliding of tungsten, which correlated well with the relatively low wear rates and low roughness on the wear track throughout the sliding. Ex situ analysis was performed by means of XPS and SEM-FIB in order to better understand the underlying mechanisms of low friction and low-wear sliding. The analysis did not reveal any evidence of tribofilm or transferfilm formation on the counterface, indicating the absence of significant bonding between the diamond and tungsten surfaces, which correlated well with the low-friction values. The minimal adhesive interaction and material transfer can possibly be explained by the low initial roughness values as well as high cohesive bonding energies of the two materials. The appearance of the wear track as well as the relatively higher roughness perpendicular to the sliding indicated that abrasion was the main wear mechanism. In order to elucidate the low friction of this tribocouple, we performed micro-tribological experiments in ultra-high vacuum conditions. The results show that the friction coefficient was reduced significantly in UHV. In addition, subsequently to baking the chamber, the coefficient of friction approached ultra-low values. Based on the results obtained in this study, the diamond/tungsten tribocouple seems promising for tribological interfaces in spacecraft systems, which can improve the durability of the components.

Author(s):  
D. Loretto ◽  
J. M. Gibson ◽  
S. M. Yalisove ◽  
R. T. Tung

The cobalt disilicide/silicon system has potential applications as a metal-base and as a permeable-base transistor. Although thin, low defect density, films of CoSi2 on Si(111) have been successfully grown, there are reasons to believe that Si(100)/CoSi2 may be better suited to the transmission of electrons at the silicon/silicide interface than Si(111)/CoSi2. A TEM study of the formation of CoSi2 on Si(100) is therefore being conducted. We have previously reported TEM observations on Si(111)/CoSi2 grown both in situ, in an ultra high vacuum (UHV) TEM and ex situ, in a conventional Molecular Beam Epitaxy system.The procedures used for the MBE growth have been described elsewhere. In situ experiments were performed in a JEOL 200CX electron microscope, extensively modified to give a vacuum of better than 10-9 T in the specimen region and the capacity to do in situ sample heating and deposition. Cobalt was deposited onto clean Si(100) samples by thermal evaporation from cobalt-coated Ta filaments.


Author(s):  
D. Loretto ◽  
J. M. Gibson ◽  
S. M. Yalisove

The silicides CoSi2 and NiSi2 are both metallic with the fee flourite structure and lattice constants which are close to silicon (1.2% and 0.6% smaller at room temperature respectively) Consequently epitaxial cobalt and nickel disilicide can be grown on silicon. If these layers are formed by ultra high vacuum (UHV) deposition (also known as molecular beam epitaxy or MBE) their thickness can be controlled to within a few monolayers. Such ultrathin metal/silicon systems have many potential applications: for example electronic devices based on ballistic transport. They also provide a model system to study the properties of heterointerfaces. In this work we will discuss results obtained using in situ and ex situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM).In situ TEM is suited to the study of MBE growth for several reasons. It offers high spatial resolution and the ability to penetrate many monolayers of material. This is in contrast to the techniques which are usually employed for in situ measurements in MBE, for example low energy electron diffraction (LEED) and reflection high energy electron diffraction (RHEED), which are both sensitive to only a few monolayers at the surface.


Author(s):  
Young Woo Kwon ◽  
Mun Ki Bae ◽  
Ri-Ichi Murakami ◽  
Tae Hwan Jang ◽  
Tae Gyu Kim

In this study, a DLC pattern was fabricated through a photolithography process that constitutes a part of the semiconductor process, to investigate the frictional wear characteristics. The photolithography was used to produce negative patterns with a pattern width of 10 [Formula: see text]m or 20 [Formula: see text]m and a pattern depth of 500 nm on the DLC surface. The change in the coefficient of friction of the surface was investigated through a ball-on-disk tribology test on the fabricated micro/nano-sized DLC pattern. The DLC pattern fabricated by the photolithography process showed a superior coefficient of friction to that of the general DLC sample. These results show that the decrease in the surface friction coefficient of the patterned DLC thin film is due to the reduction in the surface contact area owing to the modification of the micro/nano-texture of the surface as well as the low friction characteristics of the DLC.


A study is made of the frictional behaviour of crystals (diamond, magnesium oxide, sapphire) sliding on themselves in high vacuum (10 -10 torr). The surface films normally present on these crystals are very tenacious but they may be worn away by repeated sliding in the same track. Under these conditions the friction of the clean crystals may increase by a factor of ten so that the coefficient of friction may rise to μ ≈ 1. The frictional rise is limited because of the elastic and brittle behaviour of the contact regions. Under these conditions subsurface deformation and fracture of the crystal occurs and this, combined with the high surface adhesion, causes pronounced wear. Adsorption of a few molecular layers of gas can again reduce the friction to a low value. The results are relevant to the operation of bearings and to the wear of surfaces in space.


1999 ◽  
Vol 594 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. S. Bhatia ◽  
C.-Y. Chen ◽  
W. Fong ◽  
D. B. Bogy

AbstractTribochemical studies of the effect of lubricant bonding on the tribology of the head/disk interface (HDI) were conducted using hydrogenated (CHx) carbon disk samples coated with perfluoropolyether ZDOL lubricant. The studies involved drag tests with uncoated and carboncoated Al2O3-TiC sliders and also thermal desorption experiments in an ultra-high vacuum (UHV) tribochamber. We observed that a larger mobile lubricant portion significantly enhances the wear durability of the (head/disk interface) HDI by providing a reservoir to constantly replenish the lubricant displaced in the wear track during drag tests. In the thermal desorption tests we observed two distinct temperatures of desorption. The mobile ZDOL layer is desorbed at the lower thermal desorption temperature and the residual bonded ZDOL layer is desorbed at the higher thermal desorption temperature. We also observed that the hydrogen evolution from CHx overcoats initiates lubricant catalytic decomposition with uncoated Al2O3/TiC sliders, forming CF3 (69) and C2F5 (119). The generation of Hydroflouric acid (HF) during thermal desorption experiments provides the formation mechanism of Lewis acid, which is the necessary component for catalytic reaction causing Z-DOL lube degradation.


1987 ◽  
Vol 102 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Cerullo ◽  
Julia M. Phillips ◽  
M. Anzlowar ◽  
L. Pfeiffer ◽  
J. L. Batstone ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTA new in-situ rapid thermal annealing (RTA) apparatus which can be used to anneal entire wafers in an ultra high vacuum environment has been designed to be used in conjunction with the epitaxial growth of heterostructures. Drastic improvement in the crystallinity of CaF2/Si(100) can be achieved with RTA, and our results suggest that RTA can be used as an on-line processing technique for novel epitaxial structures.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy J. Gorey ◽  
Yang Dai ◽  
Scott Anderson ◽  
Sungsik Lee ◽  
Sungwon Lee ◽  
...  

In heterogeneous catalysis, atomic layer deposition (ALD) has been developed as a tool to stabilize and reduce carbon deposition on supported nanoparticles. Here, we discuss use of high vacuum ALD to deposit alumina films on size-selected, sub-nanometer Pt/SiO2 model catalysts. Mass-selected Pt24 clusters were deposited on oxidized Si(100), to form model Pt24/SiO2 catalysts with particles shown to be just under 1 nm, with multilayer three dimensional structure. Alternating exposures to trimethylaluminum and water vapor in an ultra-high vacuum chamber were used to grow alumina on the samples without exposing them to air. The samples were probed in situ using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), low-energy ion scattering spectroscopy (ISS), and CO temperature-programmed desorption (TPD). Additional samples were prepared for ex situ experiments using grazing incidence small angle x-ray scattering spectroscopy (GISAXS). Alumina growth is found to initiate at least 60 times more efficiently at the Pt24 cluster sites, compared to bare SiO2/Si, with a single ALD cycle depositing a full alumina layer on top of the clusters, with substantial additional alumina growth initiating on SiO2 sites surrounding the clusters. As a result, the clusters were completely passivated, with no exposed Pt binding sites.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 482-494
Author(s):  
Jignesh Vanjaria ◽  
Venkat Hariharan ◽  
Arul Chakkaravarthi Arjunan ◽  
Yanze Wu ◽  
Gary S. Tompa ◽  
...  

Heteroepitaxial growth of Ge films on Si is necessary for the progress of integrated Si photonics technology. In this work, an in-house assembled plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition reactor was used to grow high quality epitaxial Ge films on Si (100) substrates. Low economic and thermal budget were accomplished by the avoidance of ultra-high vacuum conditions or high temperature substrate pre-deposition bake for the process. Films were deposited with and without plasma assistance using germane (GeH4) precursor in a single step at process temperatures of 350–385 °C and chamber pressures of 1–10 Torr at various precursor flow rates. Film growth was realized at high ambient chamber pressures (>10−6 Torr) by utilizing a rigorous ex situ substrate cleaning process, closely controlling substrate loading times, chamber pumping and the dead-time prior to the initiation of film growth. Plasma allowed for higher film deposition rates at lower processing temperatures. An epitaxial growth was confirmed by X-Ray diffraction studies, while crystalline quality of the films was verified by X-ray rocking curve, Raman spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy and infra-red spectroscopy.


2007 ◽  
Vol 334-335 ◽  
pp. 597-600
Author(s):  
Klaus Friedrich ◽  
Patrick Klein ◽  
Geraldine Theiler ◽  
Lin Ye ◽  
Yiu Wing Mai

This study deals with the development of PEEK (polyetheretherketone) and PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) based composites, optimized for low friction and low wear performance under extreme environments. It is demonstrated that the incorporation of a harder polymer component into PTFE (such as PEEK particles), a short fiber reinforcement (e.g. carbon fibers CF), and internal lubricants (e.g. PTFE particles), helps to reduce the friction and to improve the wear resistance over a very wide temperature range.


1994 ◽  
Vol 337 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Bellard ◽  
J.M. Themlin ◽  
F. Palmino ◽  
A. Cros

ABSTRACTWe have investigated the microscopic properties of copper and chromium layers deposited on polyphenylquinoxaline (PPQ). PPQ is a thermostable polymer used for multichip module applications. The metal is deposited under ultra-high vacuum conditions and analysed in-situ by X-ray photoemission (XPS) and atomic force microscopy (ex situ). Copper does not react significantly with the PPQ and tends to diffuse into the polymer matrix upon annealing. On the contrary, chromium strongly reacts with the polymer surface at room temperature. With increasing metal coverage, chromium grows in a layer-by-layer mode and the reacted interface is progressively burried under the pure metal layer.


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