Observation of nm-sliding gap shape for formulation of theory of boundary lubrication

随着滑动表面光滑技术的发展，对小滑动间隙处的润滑技术提出了要求。然而，由于测量困难，小滑动间隙处的润滑现象尚未完全阐明。为了阐明润滑现象，需要研究滑动间隙与分离滑动表面的力之间的关系。在这项研究中，我们旨在提出一种测量纳米滑动间隙分布的方法。我们认为该方法可以提供高横向分辨率和高厚度分辨率，适用于微机械。我们尝试了一种基于椭偏的新方法，并证明了它的可行性。

With the progress of the smoothing technique of sliding surfaces, lubrication technology at small sliding gaps is required. However, the lubrication phenomenon at small sliding gaps has not been fully clarified due to the difficulty of measurement. For clarifying the lubrication phenomena, the relationship between the sliding gap and forces that separate the sliding surfaces is needed. In this study, we aimed at proposal of a method for measuring the distribution of nanometer sliding gaps. We considered the method that can provide high lateral resolution and high thickness resolution for application to micro machines. We tried a new method that is based on ellipsometry and showed its feasibility.