INFLUENCE OF CAPILLARITY AND ELASTICITY ON MICRO-CONTACTS

One aspect of the stiction problem may be explained by the action of capillary forces in conjunction with surface elasticity. In the present work, the interaction between two elastic half-spaces separated by a small liquid bridge is investigated. By minimizing the total free energy stored in the interface (including elastic energy and surface energy), the equilibrium interface geometry is determined analytically in the case where there is no solid-solid contact. A non-dimensional number, $N_c=299\frac{{\gamma}^2_{LA}cos^2{\theta}V_o}{E^{'2}H^5}$ is found to govern the structure stability. When $N_c{\ge}1$, the two surfaces jump into solid-solid contact and, once this occurs, the contact area will continue to expand until the two surfaces are in full contact.