Micro/nanotribology as a field is concerned with experimental and theoretical investigations of processes ranging from atomic and molecular scales to the microscale, occurring during adhesion, friction, wear, and thin-film lubrication at sliding surfaces. As a field it is truly interdisciplinary, but this confronts the would-be entrant with the difficulty of becoming familiar with the basic theories and applications: the area is not covered in any undergraduate or graduate scientific curriculum.
The present work commences with a history of tribology and micro/nanotribology, followed by discussions of instrumentation, basic theories of friction, wear and lubrication on nano- to microscales, and their industrial applications. A variety of research instruments are covered, including a variety of scanning probe microscopes and surface force apparatus. Experimental research and modelling are expertly dealt with, the emphasis throughout being applied aspects.

1. History.- History of Tribology and Micro/Nanotriboiogy.- 2. SPM Instrumentation.- Instrumentation for Scanning Force Microscopy and Friction Force Microscopy.- Sensors for Scanning Probe Microscopy.- An Atomic Force Microscope with Two Optical Levers for Detection of the Position of the Tip End with Three Degrees of Freedom.- 3 Forces and Adhesion.- Adhesion on the Nanometer Scale.- AFM at Liquid-Solid Interfaces.- Study of Attractive Interactions Between Poly (Ethylene-Oxide) Coated Surfaces Using AFM.- Force Gradient Versus Distance Curves Studied by Atomic Force Microscopy.- Adhesion and Friction Using Field Ion Microscopy.- A Continuum Mechanics Model of Adhesion and Friction in a Single Asperity Contact.- 4. Friction And Wear.- (a) AFM/FFM and STM.- Friction, Scratching/Wear, Indentation and Lubrication on Micro- to Nanoscales.- Instrumental Aspects and Contrast Mechanisms of Friction Force Microscopy.- Modulation Technique for Measuring Friction on a Nanometer Scale.- Friction Force Microscopy at Ultrasonic Frequencies.- Friction Force Spectroscopy in the Low-Load Regime with Well-Defined Tips.- Friction Force Microscopy of Organic Thin Films and Crystals.- Scanning Force Microscopy of Latent Heavy-Ion Tracks in Ultrahigh Vacuum.- Investigation of Sliding Friction on the Ferroic Crystals Surface.- Compositional Characterization of III-V Semiconductor Heterostructures by Friction Force Microscopy.- Nanotribology in Electrolytic Environment.- Mechanisms for Sliding Friction of Single Molecules Using Scanning Tunneling Microscopy at Room Temperature.- (b) Quartz Crystal Microbalance.- Sliding Friction of Compressing Xenon Monolayers.- (c) Surface Force Apparatus.- Control and Minimization of Friction Via Surface Modifications.- Glass-Like Transition of a Simple Fluid Confined Between Low-Energy, Noncrystalline Surfaces.- (d) Modelling.- Microscopic Aspects of Friction.- Theoretical Simulation of Atomic-Scale Friction Image of Graphite in FFM.- Frictional Phases in a Driven Two-Wave Potential.- Frictional Anisotropy and the Role of Lattice Relaxation in Molecular Tribology of Crystalline Interfaces.- Simulation of the Scan Process in Friction Force Microscopy.- (e) Macro-Scale.- Tribology: A Bridge from Macro to Nano.- Friction of Sliding Surfaces Carrying Boundary Layers: The Relation Between Friction on the Micro- and Macro-Scales.- 5. Lubrication.- Lubrication: Traditional to Nano-lubricating Films.- Analysis of Lubricant Morphology Using the AFM.- 6. Materials Properties Characterization.- A Beginner's Guide to LPM Materials Properties Measurements Part I: Conceptual Aspects.- A Beginner's Guide to LPM Materials Properties Measurements Part II: Experimental Aspects.- Nanomechanical Interactions of Scanning Force Microscope Tips with Polymer Surfaces.- Surface Mechanical Properties Using Nanoindentation.- 7. Molecular Dynamic Simulations.- Junctions and Nano-Elastohydrodynamics.- Stick-Slip Motion, Transient Behavior, and Memory in Confined Films.- Theory of Friction: Friction Dynamics for Boundary Lubricated Surfaces.- 8. Applications- MEMS and Magnetic Storage Devices.- Microdynamical Systems.- Preparation of Micro- and Nanostructures.- Adhesion and Friction in MEMS.- Water Adsorption on MEMS Surface Studied by Quartz Crystal Microbalance.- Molecular Tribology of Disk Drives.- Application of SPM for the Analysis of Microcracks of Thin-Film Head Alumina.- Author Index.- Subjeck Index.