Electrostatically Tunable Adhesion in a High Speed Sliding Interface

Area of Science:

• Tribology
• Nanotechnology
• Materials Science

Background:

• Contact hysteresis is a common phenomenon in sliding interfaces across various scales.
• Previous research primarily utilized atomic force microscopy (AFM) at low sliding speeds (μm/s).

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate stiction and contact hysteresis at the head-disk interface of hard disk drives.
• To explore the effect of electrostatic forces, specifically AC voltage-induced oscillations, on contact hysteresis at high sliding speeds.

Main Methods:

• Studied the head-disk interface of commercial hard disk drives.
• Applied DC and AC voltages to the interface.
• Analyzed the effect of AC voltage-induced out-of-plane head oscillations on contact hysteresis.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated that AC voltage-induced oscillations can completely suppress contact hysteresis.
• Observed this effect despite the attractive nature of electrostatic forces.

Conclusions:

• Out-of-plane oscillations driven by AC voltage offer a novel method to mitigate stiction and contact hysteresis.
• This finding has implications for high-speed interfaces, such as those in hard disk drives.