U.S.-Germany Cooperative Research: Ultrsonic Force and Friction Force Microscopy Applied to Thin Lubricant Films for Magnetic Storage

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0003427BhushanThis award supports a third year of funding for Bharat Bhushan, two graduate students, and a postdoctoral student from Ohio State University in a collaboration with Walter Arnold of the Department of Applied Science at the Fraunhofer Institute for Nondestructive Testing (IZFP) in Saarbruecken, Germany. The research funded by this award will make use of the techniques in dynamic force microscopy developed at the IZFP, also called ultrasonic atomic force microscopy (AFM), which can be used to measure static friction at velocities several orders of magnitude larger than that used in conventional AFM. Localized sensitivity measurements of ceramics and polymer composites can be made to a degree not possible with other techniques. The collaboration will make it possible to transfer the German technology to the Computer Microtribology and Contamination Laboratory at Ohio State. The research plan will develop analytical tools and computer models to gain insight into the elasticity on nonhomogeneous materials, which could ultimately lead to new low-friction materials and useful mechanical property measurement techniques. This joint collaborative research effort also presents junior researchers with the opportunity to work internationally, and the work done on this proposal will help institutionalize the relationship between the German and U.S. research groups.