Study on Frictional Characteristics of Sub-micro Structured Silicon Surfaces

The understanding of the friction characteristics of micro-textured surface is of great importance to enhance the tribological properties of nano- and micro-devices. We fabricate rectangular patterns with submicron-scale structures on a Si wafer surface with various pitches and heights by using a focused ion beam (FIB). In addition, we fabricate tilted rectangular patterns to identify the influence of the tilt angle ($45^{\circ}$ and $135^{\circ}$) on friction behaviour. We perform the friction test using lateral force microscopy (LFM) employing a colloidal probe. We fabricate the colloidal probe by attaching a $10{\pm}1-{\mu}m$-diameter borosilicate glass sphere to a tipless silicon cantilever by using a ultraviolet cure adhesive. The applied normal loads range between 200 nN and 1100 nN and the sliding speed was set to $12{\mu}m/s$. The test results show that the friction behavior varied depending on the pitch, height, and tilt angle of the microstructure. The friction forces were relatively lower for narrower and deeper pitches. The comparison of friction force between the sub-micro-structured surfaces and the original Si surface indicate an improvement of the friction property at a low load range. The current study provides a better understanding of the influence of pitch, height, and tilt angle of the microstructure on their tribological properties, enabling the design of sub-micro- and micro-structured Si surfaces to improve their mechanical durability.