Friction and wear Properties of Nanostripe-Inducing Structures in Vacuum Environment

Abstract We examined the friction and wear properties of nanostripe-inducing structures (NISs), namely, a multilayer film consisting of layers of a soft metal (Ag) and a hard metal (Cr) applied on a periodic slope array on a Si substrate. The friction coefficients of the different samples of the Cr-Ag NISs were measured by rubbing four different types of sliders against the samples using a reciprocating friction tester under dry conditions. The wear depths were examined using a confocal microscope. It was found that, when the rubbing was done under vacuum conditions of 2×10 -4  Pa, the friction coefficient decreased with increasing number of oscillations, and its values ranged between 0.2 and 0.3 at the end of the test. In addition, the wear resistances of the different NIS samples were observed to be one order of magnitude higher than that of a single Cr layer on a periodic slope array.