Investigation of the μN level adhesion force characteristics of gold-coated materials in air

The typical adhesive phenomena of gold-coated contact material under cold switching conditions are observed using a micro-adhesion apparatus as a switch simulator. With repeated actuation, the recorded adhesion force results uniformly show a Gaussian-like distribution. Moreover, the effects of curvature radius of contact and contact force on adhesive force are investigated experimentally. For better understanding of the adhesion mechanism, the theoretical analysis model is built by introducing the Hamaker’s discussion about the interaction between a pair of neutral atoms or molecules. Data suggest that the substantial increase of adhesion force is correlated closely with the microscopic contact area.