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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 March 2011
Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) consisting of hydrocarbon chains attached to silica walls were evaluated computationally for their high temperature stability, life cycle and performance in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). Ab initio calculations at sufficiently high level of theory were conducted on model compounds to predict the bond strengths holding the monolayer tethered to the MEMS device and relate them to its thermal stability. Non-equilibrium molecular dynamics (NEMD) simulations under sliding periodic boundary conditions were employed to compute the frictional force as a function of applied load. The NEMD trajectories were analyzed for the structure and chain dynamics of the SAMs and compared with NEMD and equilibrium MD results for the fluid. The significance of monolayer penetration depth, monolayer gauche fraction, wall thermostat characteristics and the size of the simulation box on the computed results were investigated.