Nanolubrication of sliding components in adaptive optics used in microprojectors

Integrated microprojectors are being developed to project a large image on any surface chosen by the users. For a laser-based microprojector, a piezo-electric based adaptive optics unit is adopted in the green laser architecture. The operation of this unit depends on stick-slip motion between the sliding components. Nanolubrication of adaptive optics sliding components is needed to reduce wear and for smooth operation. In this study, a methodology to measure lubricant thickness distribution with a nanoscale resolution is developed. Friction, adhesion, and wear mechanisms of lubricant on the sliding components are studied. Effect of actual composite components, scan direction, scale effect, temperature, and humidity to correlate AFM data with the microscale device performance is studied.