The tribological role of surface atoms: ultra-thin carbon and silver layers on the Si(111)

A few monolayers of a carbon film on an Si(111) substrate have been studied for tribological characteristics, focusing on the tribological role of the surface atoms. layer of H and Ag on Si were also tested with a macroscopic diamond slider to examine the effect of the surface atoms on the friction, and it was observed that the sliding systems show an extraordinarily low friction in ultra-high vacuum. We could draw a conclusion: the chemical characteristics of the surface layer strongly affect the friction and nano-scale structures on the surface drastically change the macroscopic slider friction in these systems.