Measurement of Dissipation Induced by Tip-Sample Interactions

The measurement of energy dissipation induced by tip—sample interactions has been the domain of friction force microscopy. When a tip is sliding in contact over a sample, the recorded lateral forces show a significant hysteresis between forward and backward scans. This hysteresis can be directly related to the energy dissipation caused by friction. Even stick—slip processes on the atomic scale can be detected. For instance, on alkali halide surfaces, lateral forces of the order of 0.5 nN exhibit a sawtooth variation with the periodicity of the atomic lattice [1]. The energy dissipation corresponding to a single slip event is of the order of 1 eV. The estimated contact area encompasses a few atoms. From this estimate, the energy dissipation per atom which can be associated with a bond being broken and reformed is around 100 meV.