Simultaneous measurement of static and kinetic friction of ZnO nanowires in situ with a scanning electron microscope

A novel method for in situ measurement of the static and kinetic friction is developed and demonstrated for zinc oxide nanowires (NWs) on oxidised silicon wafers. The experiments are performed inside a scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped with a nanomanipulator with an atomic force microscope tip as a probe. NWs are pushed by the tip from one end until complete displacement is achieved, while NW bending is monitored by the SEM. The elastic bending profile of a NW during the manipulation process is used to calculate the static and kinetic friction forces.

► ZnO nanowires are manipulated on oxidised silicon inside scanning electron microscope.
► The elastic deformation of a manipulated nanowire was used to determine the distributed static and kinetic friction force.
► In similar way fracture tensile stress was calculated for a broken nanowire.