Capillary-force measurement on SiC surfaces

Capillary forces have been measured by atomic force microscopy in the sphere-plate geometry, in a controlled humidity environment, between smooth silicon carbide and borosilicate glass spheres. The force measurements were performed as a function of the rms surface roughness similar to 4-14 nm mainly due to sphere morphology, the relative humidity (RH) similar to 0%-40%, the applied load on the cantilever, and the contact time. The pull-off force was found to decrease by nearly two orders of magnitude with increasing rms roughness from 8 to 14 nm due to formation of a few capillary menisci for the roughest surfaces, while it remained unchanged for rms roughness <8 nm implying fully wetted surface features leading to a single meniscus. The latter reached a steady state in less than 5 s for the smoothest surfaces, as force measurements versus contact time indicated for increased RH similar to 40%. Finally, the pull-off force increases and reaches a maximum with applied load, which is associated with plastic deformation of surface asperities, and decreases at higher loads.