Quantitative nanofriction characterization of corrugated surfaces by atomic force microscopy

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is a suitable tool to perform tribological characterization of materials down to the nanometer scale. An important aspect in nanofriction measurements of corrugated samples is the local tilt of the surface, which affects the lateral force maps acquired with AFM. This is one of the most important problems of state-of-the-art nanotribology, hampering a reliable and quantitative characterization of real corrugated surfaces. In this article, we present a solution to the problem of the topographic correction of AFM lateral force maps acquired on corrugated samples in the presence of adhesion. We apply it in the specific case of multiasperity adhesive contacts, which are of common occurrence at many interfaces of technological interest.We discuss the validity and limitations of our approach.