Abstract
With the development of processing technology, the sliding gap between machine elements has become smaller with the miniaturization of machine elements, and precision mechanical systems down to the nanometer order have also been developed. For the operation of a machine with nano sliding gap, the surface force between machine element surfaces is more important than the body force. Since the surface force strongly depends on the size of the gap, quantification of the gap dependence of the surface force is indispensable to establish the design theory of a micromachine having nano gaps. For that purpose, a highly sensitive force measurement with accurate gap control is required. In this study, we proposed a new AFM probe with the accurate gap control and highly sensitive surface force measurement. Using the proposed method, we measured the gap dependence of the squeeze force, which is an important surface force for nano-gap lubrication.
