Authors: Norio Tagawa Takao Miki Hiroshi Tani
Publish Date: 2012/06/08
Volume: 18, Issue: 9-10, Pages: 1353-1357
Abstract
In this study lubricant depletion due to highfrequency pulsedlaser heating was investigated for lubricant films with thicknesses of both more than and less than one monolayer A conventional lubricant Zdol2000 was used It was found that the critical temperature at which the lubricant begins to deplete owing to laser heating was strongly dependent on the lubricant film thickness In the case in which the thickness of the lubricant film was less than one monolayer this temperature was approximately 170 °C higher than it was when the thickness was more than one monolayer To analyze the lubricant depletion mechanism we examined the tested lubricant film using temperature programmed desorption TPD spectroscopy It was found that the lubricant depletion characteristics due to laser heating could be explained using the experimental TPD results for the tested lubricant film and that the depletion mechanism involves the desorption or decomposition of the lubricant molecules which interact with the diamondlike carbon thin films when the lubricant film thickness is less than one monolayer Further the results of TPD and of a thermogravimetric analysis TGA of the lubricant were compared The thermal robustness of the ultrathin liquid lubricant films was found to be greater than that of the bulk lubricant materials
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