We present a theoretical study of the dynamics of a tip scanning a graphite surface as a function of the applied load. From the analysis of the lateral forces, we extract the friction force and the corrugation of the effective tip-surface interaction potential. We find both the friction force and potential amplitude to have a power-law dependence on applied load with exponent ∼1.6. We interpret these results as characteristic of sharp undeformable tips in contrast to the case of macroscopic and elastic microscopic contacts.
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