Controlled Suppression of Wear on the Nanoscale by Ultrasonic Vibrations

Controlled Suppression of Wear on the Nanoscale by Ultrasonic Vibrations - Wear on the nanoscale, as evidenced by the formation of periodic ripples on a model polystyrene thin film while a sharp tip is sliding on it with a normal force in the μN range, is shown to be suppressed by the application of ultrasonic vibrations of amplitude Aexc. An accurate calibration of the transducer excitation amplitude is achieved by a home-built setup based on a laser Doppler vibrometer.