Surface science is the study of physical and chemical phenomena that occur at the interface of two phases, including solid–liquid interfaces, solid–gas interfaces, solid–vacuum interfaces, and liquid–gas interfaces. It includes the fields of surface chemistry and surface physics. Some related practical applications are classed as surface engineering. The science encompasses concepts such as heterogeneous catalysis, semiconductor device fabrication, fuel cells, self-assembled monolayers, and adhesives. Surface science is closely related to interface and colloid science. Interfacial chemistry and physics are common subjects for both. The methods are different. In addition, interface and colloid science studies macroscopic phenomena that occur in heterogeneous systems due to peculiarities of interfaces.
Atomic force microscopy (AFM) or scanning force microscopy (SFM) is a very-high-resolution type of scanning probe microscopy (SPM), with demonstrated resolution on the order of fractions of a nanometer, more than 1000 times better than the optical diffraction limit.
Scanning probe microscopy (SPM) is a branch of microscopy that forms images of surfaces using a physical probe that scans the specimen. SPM was founded in 1981, with the invention of the scanning tunneling microscope, an instrument for imaging surfaces at the atomic level. The first successful scanning tunneling microscope experiment was done by Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer. The key to their success was using a feedback loop to regulate gap distance between the sample and the probe.
Nanotribology is the branch of tribology that studies friction, wear, adhesion and lubrication phenomena at the nanoscale, where atomic interactions and quantum effects are not negligible. The aim of this discipline is characterizing and modifying surfaces for both scientific and technological purposes.
Zinc dialkyldithiophosphates are a family of coordination compounds developed in the 1940s that feature zinc bound to the anion of a dialkyldithiophosphoric salt. These uncharged compounds are not salts. They are soluble in nonpolar solvents, and the longer-chain derivatives easily dissolve in mineral and synthetic oils used as lubricants. They come under CAS number 68649-42-3. In aftermarket oil additives, the percentage of ZDDP ranges approximately between 2 and 15%. Zinc dithiophosphates have many names, including ZDDP, ZnDTP, and ZDP.
The stick–slip phenomenon, also known as the slip–stick phenomenon or simply stick–slip, is a type of motion exhibited by objects in contact sliding over one another. The motion of these objects is usually not perfectly smooth, but rather irregular, with brief accelerations (slips) interrupted by stops (sticks). Stick–slip motion is normally connected to friction, and may generate vibration (noise) or be associated with mechanical wear of the moving objects, and is thus often undesirable in mechanical devices. On the other hand, stick–slip motion can be useful in some situations, such as the movement of a bow across a string to create musical tones in a bowed string instrument.
In microscopy, conductive atomic force microscopy (C-AFM) or current sensing atomic force microscopy (CS-AFM) is a mode in atomic force microscopy (AFM) that simultaneously measures the topography of a material and the electric current flow at the contact point of the tip with the surface of the sample. The topography is measured by detecting the deflection of the cantilever using an optical system, while the current is detected using a current-to-voltage preamplifier. The fact that the CAFM uses two different detection systems is a strong advantage compared to scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Basically, in STM the topography picture is constructed based on the current flowing between the tip and the sample. Therefore, when a portion of a sample is scanned with an STM, it is not possible to discern if the current fluctuations are related to a change in the topography or to a change in the sample conductivity.
Thermal scanning probe lithography (t-SPL) is a form of scanning probe lithography (SPL) whereby material is structured on the nanoscale using scanning probes, primarily through the application of thermal energy.
Jacob Nissim Israelachvili, was an Israeli physicist who was a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB).
Photoconductive atomic force microscopy (PC-AFM) is a variant of atomic force microscopy that measures photoconductivity in addition to surface forces.
Nanosensors Inc. is a company that manufactures probes for use in atomic force microscopes (AFM) and scanning probe microscopes (SPM). This private, for profit company was founded November 21, 2018. Nanosensors Inc. is located in Neuchatel, Switzerland.
The colloidal probe technique is commonly used to measure interaction forces acting between colloidal particles and/or planar surfaces in air or in solution. This technique relies on the use of an atomic force microscope (AFM). However, instead of a cantilever with a sharp AFM tip, one uses the colloidal probe. The colloidal probe consists of a colloidal particle of few micrometers in diameter that is attached to an AFM cantilever. The colloidal probe technique can be used in the sphere-plane or sphere-sphere geometries. One typically achieves a force resolution between 1 and 100 pN and a distance resolution between 0.5 and 2 nm.
Franz Josef Gießibl is a German physicist and university professor at the University of Regensburg.
AFM-IR or infrared nanospectroscopy is one of a family of techniques that are derived from a combination of two parent instrumental techniques. AFM-IR combines the chemical analysis power of infrared spectroscopy and the high-spatial resolution of scanning probe microscopy (SPM). The term was first used to denote a method that combined a tuneable free electron laser with an atomic force microscope equipped with a sharp probe that measured the local absorption of infrared light by a sample with nanoscale spatial resolution.
Hugh Alexander Spikes is a British mechanical engineer. He is emeritus professor of tribology at Imperial College London. He is the former head of the Tribology Group at Imperial College. Tribology is the science and engineering of friction, lubrication and wear.
Tribofilms are films that form on tribologically stressed surfaces. Tribofilms are mostly solid surface films that result from a chemical reaction of lubricant components or tribological surfaces.
Mark Owen Robbins was an American condensed matter physicist who specialized in computational studies of friction, fracture and adhesion, with a particular focus on nanotribology, contact mechanics, and polymers. He was a professor in the department of physics and astronomy at Johns Hopkins University at the time of his death.
Judith A. Harrison is an American physical chemist and tribologist who is known for pioneering numerical methods that incorporate chemical reactions into modeling studies. She is a professor in the Department of Chemistry at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
Bimodal Atomic Force Microscopy is an advanced atomic force microscopy technique characterized by generating high-spatial resolution maps of material properties. Topography, deformation, elastic modulus, viscosity coefficient or magnetic field maps might be generated. Bimodal AFM is based on the simultaneous excitation and detection of two eigenmodes (resonances) of a force microscope microcantilever.
Qian Jane Wang is an American professor of mechanical engineering and the Executive Director for the Center for Surface Engineering and Tribology at Northwestern University. She is a tribologist whose research includes work on contact mechanics, lubrication, micromechanics, and solid-state batteries.
