Abstract
Frictional characteristics of mesoporous $SiO_2$ thin films were evaluated with different pore sizes. The films were manufactured by sol-gel and self-assembly methods to have a porous structure. The pores on the surface may play as the outlet of wear particle and the storage of lubricant so that the surface interactions could be improved. The pores were exposed on the surface by chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) or plasma-etching after forming the porous films. The ball-on-disk tests with mesoporous $SiO_2$ thin films on glass specimen were conducted at sliding speed of 15 rpm and a load of 0.26 N. The results show considerable dependency of friction on pore size of mesoporous $SiO_2$ thin films. The friction coefficient decreased as increasing the pore size. CMP process was very useful to expose the pores on the surface.