Low friction of diamond sliding against Al2O3 ceramic ball based on the first principles calculations

Generally, amorphous carbon films sliding against Al2O3 ceramic ball exhibited low friction. However, the low friction mechanism was still not well understood. Since the atomic interaction has difficulty in observing from the experimental method. Thus, in this paper, we probed the origin of low friction mechanism of amorphous carbon films against Al2O3 ceramic ball based on first principles calculations. The work of separation did not well illustrate the low friction mechanism. The calculated results of the potential energy surface showed that the minimum energy paths, which defined as a series of low energy regimes of the potential energy surface, were in charge of the low friction.