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Nanoscale wear as a stress-assisted chemical reaction

Abstract

Wear of sliding contacts leads to energy dissipation and device failure, resulting in massive economic and environmental costs1. Typically, wear phenomena are described empirically2, because physical and chemical interactions at sliding interfaces are not fully understood at any length scale. Fundamental insights from individual nanoscale contacts are crucial for understanding wear at larger length scales3, and to enable reliable nanoscale devices, manufacturing and microscopy4,5,6. Observable nanoscale wear mechanisms include fracture7 and plastic deformation8, but recent experiments9,10,11 and models12 propose another mechanism: wear via atom-by-atom removal (‘atomic attrition’), which can be modelled using stress-assisted chemical reaction kinetics13. Experimental evidence for this has so far been inferential. Here, we quantitatively measure the wear of silicon—a material relevant to small-scale devices14—using in situ transmission electron microscopy. We resolve worn volumes as small as 25 ± 5 nm3, a factor of 103 lower than is achievable using alternative techniques15,16. Wear of silicon against diamond is consistent with atomic attrition, and inconsistent with fracture or plastic deformation, as shown using direct imaging. The rate of atom removal depends exponentially on stress in the contact, as predicted by chemical rate kinetics13. Measured activation parameters are consistent with an atom-by-atom process17. These results, by direct observation, establish atomic attrition as the primary wear mechanism of silicon in vacuum at low loads.

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Figure 1: A modified in situ indentation apparatus is used for the sliding tests.
Figure 2: Periodic high-resolution TEM images demonstrate gradual surface evolution without sub-surface damage.
Figure 3: The volume of silicon lost due to wear has been quantified and is well described using a chemical kinetics framework.
Figure 4: A proposed mechanism of nanoscale wear by stress-assisted atom-by-atom removal.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank K.T. Turner and J. Li for helpful discussions, D. Yates and R. Major for microscopy and equipment assistance, and D.S. Grierson for programming assistance. Use of the facilities of the Pennsylvania Regional Nanotechnology Facility is acknowledged. Funding from the National Science Foundation (grants CMMI 1200019, CMMI-0826076, IIP-0823002 and DGE-0221664) is acknowledged.

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T.D.B.J. designed the test set-up, performed all testing and developed analysis routines. R.W.C. supervised the research and oversaw the analysis. Both authors prepared the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Robert W. Carpick.

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Jacobs, T., Carpick, R. Nanoscale wear as a stress-assisted chemical reaction. Nature Nanotech 8, 108–112 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2012.255

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