Influence of tip materials on the friction force microscopy of epitaxial graphene on SiC(0001): comparison of diamond and silicon tips in experiments and atomistic simulations

Fuente: arXiv
Salvato in:
Dettagli Bibliografici
Autori principali: Zarshenas, Mohammad, Kuwahara, Takuya, Szczefanowicz, Bartosz, Klemenz, Andreas, Pastewka, Lars, Moras, Gianpietro, Bennewitz, Roland, Moseler, Michael
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
Soggetti:
Accesso online:
Tags: Aggiungi Tag
Nessun Tag, puoi essere il primo ad aggiungerne!!
_version_ 1866909537508786176
author Zarshenas, Mohammad
Kuwahara, Takuya
Szczefanowicz, Bartosz
Klemenz, Andreas
Pastewka, Lars
Moras, Gianpietro
Bennewitz, Roland
Moseler, Michael
author_facet Zarshenas, Mohammad
Kuwahara, Takuya
Szczefanowicz, Bartosz
Klemenz, Andreas
Pastewka, Lars
Moras, Gianpietro
Bennewitz, Roland
Moseler, Michael
contents Friction force microscopy (FFM) with silicon tips on epitaxial graphene supported by SiC(0001) previously revealed a sharp increase in friction at a threshold normal force, linked to the intermittent rehybridization of graphene and the formation of single-layer diamond above 12 GPa. In this study, the FFM behavior of a diamond tip is compared with that of the silicon tip. The diamond tip exhibited a similar abrupt increase in friction, but the threshold normal force was approximately twice as high for comparable tip radii. Simulations of graphene on SiC(0001) sliding against hydroxylated amorphous carbon (a-C) and silicon oxide (SiO2) slabs show that both systems exhibit low shear stress at low pressures, which increases at higher pressures due to bond formation between the graphene and counter slabs. The pressure dependence differs slightly: SiO2 reaches a shear stress plateau around 6 GPa, while a-C continues to increase gradually. For a-C, the transition threshold shifts to higher pressures, consistent with FFM results. Temperature lowers the transition threshold significantly, while sliding velocity has minimal impact on shear stress. These findings provide insights into the stability of low-friction interfaces between epitaxial graphene and the key materials which come into contact with graphene in current micro-electro-mechanical systems.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_11436
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Influence of tip materials on the friction force microscopy of epitaxial graphene on SiC(0001): comparison of diamond and silicon tips in experiments and atomistic simulations
Zarshenas, Mohammad
Kuwahara, Takuya
Szczefanowicz, Bartosz
Klemenz, Andreas
Pastewka, Lars
Moras, Gianpietro
Bennewitz, Roland
Moseler, Michael
Materials Science
Instrumentation and Detectors
Friction force microscopy (FFM) with silicon tips on epitaxial graphene supported by SiC(0001) previously revealed a sharp increase in friction at a threshold normal force, linked to the intermittent rehybridization of graphene and the formation of single-layer diamond above 12 GPa. In this study, the FFM behavior of a diamond tip is compared with that of the silicon tip. The diamond tip exhibited a similar abrupt increase in friction, but the threshold normal force was approximately twice as high for comparable tip radii. Simulations of graphene on SiC(0001) sliding against hydroxylated amorphous carbon (a-C) and silicon oxide (SiO2) slabs show that both systems exhibit low shear stress at low pressures, which increases at higher pressures due to bond formation between the graphene and counter slabs. The pressure dependence differs slightly: SiO2 reaches a shear stress plateau around 6 GPa, while a-C continues to increase gradually. For a-C, the transition threshold shifts to higher pressures, consistent with FFM results. Temperature lowers the transition threshold significantly, while sliding velocity has minimal impact on shear stress. These findings provide insights into the stability of low-friction interfaces between epitaxial graphene and the key materials which come into contact with graphene in current micro-electro-mechanical systems.
title Influence of tip materials on the friction force microscopy of epitaxial graphene on SiC(0001): comparison of diamond and silicon tips in experiments and atomistic simulations
topic Materials Science
Instrumentation and Detectors
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.11436