Combining the classical theories of contact mechanics and lubrication with the study of friction on the nanometer range, this multi-scale book for researchers and students alike guides the reader deftly through the mechanisms governing friction processes, based on state-of-the-art models and experimental results. The first book in the field to incorporate recent research on nanotribology with classical theories of contact mechanics, this unique text explores atomic scale scratches, non-contact friction and fishing of molecular nanowires as observed in the lab. Beginning with simple key concepts, the reader is guided through progressively more complex topics, such as contact of self-affine surfaces and nanomanipulation, in a consistent style, encompassing both macroscopic and atomistic descriptions of friction, and using unified notations to enable use by physicists and engineers across the scientific community.

A thorough guide to the mechanisms ruling friction processes, based on state-of-the-art models and experimental results, this multi-scale book for researchers and students combines the classical theories of contact mechanics and lubrication with nanotribology to explore friction in a range of forms.

Written by one of the most distinguished scientists and a pioneer in this field, this monograph represents a stand-alone, concise guide to friction at the atomic level. It brings together hitherto widely-scattered information in one single source, and is the first to explain the nature of friction in terms of atomistic mechanisms. In addition to his detailed description on modeling and simulation, the author stresses experimental approaches like AFM (Atomic Force Microscope) techniques for verification of theory. In this respect the book will benefit the whole nanotribology community, from graduate students who want to get the basics right up to researchers specializing in mechanical engineering, materials science, physics and chemistry.

Readers of this book will become familiar with the concepts and techniques of nanotribology, explained by an international team of scientists and engineers, actively involved and with long experience in this field. Edited by two pioneers in the field, the book is suitable both as a first introduction to this fascinating subject, and also as a reference for researchers wishing to improve their knowledge of nanotribology.

This book provides a general formalism for the calculation of the spectral correlation function for the fluctuating electromagnetic field. The procedure is applied to the radiative heat transfer and the van der Waals friction using both the semi-classical theory of the fluctuating electromagnetic field and quantum field theory. Applications of the radiative heat transfer and non-contact friction to scanning probe spectroscopy are presented. The theory gives a tentative explanation for the experimental non-contact friction data. The book explains that radiative heat transfer and the van der Waals friction are largely enhanced at short separations between the bodies due to the evanescent electromagnetic waves. Particular strong enhancement occurs if the surfaces of the bodies can support localized surface modes like surface plasmons, surface polaritons or adsorbate vibrational modes. An electromagnetic field outside a moving body can also be created by static charges which are always present on the surface of the body due to inhomogeneities, or due to a bias voltage. This electromagnetic field produces electrostatic friction which can be significantly enhanced if on the surface of the body there is a 2D electron or hole system or an incommensurate adsorbed layer of ions exhibiting acoustic vibrations.

Readers of this book will become familiar with the concepts and techniques of nanotribology, explained by an international team of scientists and engineers, actively involved and with long experience in this field. Edited by two pioneers in the field, the book is suitable both as a first introduction to this fascinating subject, and also as a reference for researchers wishing to improve their knowledge of nanotribology.

By employing a combination of approaches from several disciplines the authors elucidate the principles of a variety of biomechanical systems that rely on frictional surfaces or adhesive secretions to attach parts of the body to one another or to attach organisms to a substrate. This account provides an excellent starting point for engineers and physicists working with biological systems and for biologists studying friction and adhesion. It will also serve as a valuable introduction for graduate students entering this interdisciplinary field of research.