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Reducing Friction Force of Si Material by Means of Atomic Layer-Deposited ZnO Films

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Abstract

With excellent lubricating property, zinc oxide (ZnO) films are promising candidates to act as protective coatings in Si-based microelectromechanical system devices for the purpose of decreasing friction forces of silicon (Si) material. In this paper, the nanotribological behavior of ZnO films prepared by atomic layer deposition on a Si (100) substrate is investigated by an atomic force microscope. The ZnO films have various thicknesses ranging from 10.0 to 182.1 nm. With the increase of film thickness, the root-mean-square roughness of the films increases, while the ratio of hardness to Young’s modulus (H/E) decreases. Due to their large surface roughness, the thick ZnO films are low in adhesion force. The friction force of the ZnO films is smaller than that of the Si (100) substrate and is greatly influenced by their adhesion force and mechanical property. In a low-load condition, the friction force is dominated by the adhesion force, and thus, the friction force of the ZnO films decreases as film thickness increases. While in a high-load condition, the friction force is dominated by plowing. Films with higher H/E possess smaller friction force, and thus, the friction force increases with the decreasing film thickness.

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Acknowledgments

The authors greatly appreciate the financial support of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars (50825501), the Science Fund for Creative Research Groups (51321092), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51335005), and the National Science and Technology Major Project (2008ZX02104-001). Helpful discussions with Wen Jing are gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The State Key Laboratory of Tribology, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Zhimin Chai, Yuhong Liu & Xinchun Lu

  2. National Engineering Research Center for Nanotechnology, Shanghai, 200241, China

    Dannong He

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  1. Zhimin Chai
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Correspondence to Xinchun Lu.

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Chai, Z., Liu, Y., Lu, X. et al. Reducing Friction Force of Si Material by Means of Atomic Layer-Deposited ZnO Films. Tribol Lett 56, 67–75 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11249-014-0383-3

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