Effects of atomic-scale roughness on adhesion between diamond surfaces

URL

http://www.nanowerk.com/news/newsid=19784.php

Description

Using atomic force microscope (AFM) measurements performed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, and ab initio density functional theory (DFT), they investigated the adhesive physics and mechanics of nanoscale interfaces between diamond surfaces. For atomically smooth surfaces, the greater density of atoms in the (111) plane would be expected to lead to a higher electrostatic dipole moment per unit area and a higher work of adhesion than the (001) orientation.