Phenomenological modeling of long range noncontact friction in micro- and nanoresonators

Motivated by the results of an experiment using atomic force microscopy performed by Gotsmann and Fuchs [Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 2597 (2001)], where a strong energy loss due to the tip-sample interaction was measured, we investigate the potential implications of this energy loss channel to the quality factor of suspended micro- and nanoresonators. Because the observed tip-sample dissipation remains without a satisfactory theoretical explanation, two phenomenological models are proposed to generalize the experimental observations. In the minimal phenomenological model the range of validity of the power law found experimentally for the damping coefficient is assumed to be valid for larger separations. A more elaborate phenomenological model assumes that the noncontact friction is a consequence of the Casimir force acting between the closely spaced surfaces. Both models provide quantitative results for the noncontact friction between any two objects which are then used to estimate the energy loss for suspended bar micro- and nanoresonators. It is concluded that the energy loss due to the unknown mechanism has the potential to seriously restrict the quality factor of both micro- and nanoresonators. (c) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3638456]