Development of a microtribological tester with sliding condition of a small contact load and large velocity

A prototype of microtribology tester with sliding condition of a small contact load and large velocity has been developed. It can mount a disk with the maximum size of 3.5 inch. Maximum rotational speed is 20,000 rpm. An AFM cantilever or a head-gimbal assembly can be mounted. The contact load is adjusted by a piezoactuator which supports a disk table. A ferrofluid damper is adopted to reduce the vibration of the disk table. As a tribological test, a spirally scratching test of a glass disk for HDD is carried out by using an AFM cantilever with a sharp diamond tip.