AVS 62nd International Symposium & Exhibition
    Tribology Focus Topic Thursday Sessions
       Session TR+AS+NS+SS-ThA

Paper TR+AS+NS+SS-ThA3
Investigation of Epitaxy and Friction in Model Boundary Films

Thursday, October 22, 2015, 3:00 pm, Room 230B

Session: Molecular Origins of Friction
Presenter: Hongyu Gao, University of California Merced
Authors: H. Gao, University of California Merced
W.T. Tysoe, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
A. Martini, University of California Merced
Correspondent: Click to Email
Sliding friction of boundary films is investigated using ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) tribometer measurements of model alkali halide films on metals with complementary molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. We focus on a model system consisting of thin potassium chloride (KCl) films on an iron (Fe) substrate. The interaction potential between KCl and Fe is tuned using activation energy obtained from temperature programmed desorption (TPD) data and structures inferred from low-energy electron diffraction (LEED) measurements. The simulation is then used to explore the effect of film thickness and pressure on the formation of an epitaxial KCl film. The nature of this film and its near surface structure is then correlated with sliding friction behavior.