Advanced adhesion and friction measurement system

An advanced micro-force tester for investigating the micromechanical behavior of various patterned surfaces in dry and wet conditions is presented in this paper. The parallel slice-beam configuration of the tester not only eliminates the large load-dependent slope and tangential displacement at the free end that is found in a single beam system, but also performs a trans-scale deflection with high sensitivity and linearity for force sensing. Meanwhile, the simple structure is characterized by low cost, high efficiency, and ease of fabrication. An integrated nano- and micro-stage comprise the mobile table to produce a large stroke with high resolution, which is specifically required in wet adhesion testing because of the formation of a long liquid bridge. Preliminary experiments of adhesion and friction conducted using PDMS pillars with a plano-convex lens validated the feasibility of this setup. (paper)