Abstract
The transition from atomic stick-slip to continuous sliding has been observed in a number of ways. If extended contacts are moved in different directions, so-called structural lubricity is observed when the two surface lattices are non-matching. Alternatively, a “superlubric” state of motion can be achieved if the normal force is reduced below a certain threshold, the temperature is increased, or the contact is actuated mechanically. These processes have been partially demonstrated using atomic force microscopy, and they can be theoretically understood by proper modifications of the Prandtl-Tomlinson model.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Braun O, Naumvets, A. Nanotribology: Microscopic mechanisms of friction Surf. Sci Rep60: 79–158 (2006)
McGuiggan P M, Israelachvili J N. Adhesion and short-range force between surfaces. Part II: Effects of surface lattice mismatch. J Mater Res5: 2223–2231 (1990)
Hirano M, Shinjo K, Kaneko R, Murata Y. Anisotropy of frictional forces in muscovite mica. Phys Rev Lett67: 2642–2645 (1991)
Müser M H. Structural lubricity: Role of dimension and symmetry. Europhys Lett66: 97 (2004)
Dienwiebel M, Verhoeven G S, Pradeep N, Frenken J W M, Heimberg J A, Zandbergen H W. Superlubricity of graphite. Phys Rev Lett92: 126101 (2004)
Verhoeven G S, Dienwiebel M, Frenken J W M. Model calculations of superlubricity of graphite. Phys Rev B70: 165418 (2004)
Filippov A, Dienwiebel M, Frenken J W M, Klafter J, Urbakh M. Torque and twist against superlubricity. Phys Rev Lett100: 046102 (2008)
de Wijn A S, Fusco C, Fasolino A. Stability of superlubric sliding on graphite. Phys Rev E81: 046105 (2010)
Zheng Q, Jiang B, Liu S, Weng Y, Lu L, Xue Q, Zhu J, Jiang Q, Wang S, Peng L. Self-retracting motion of graphite microflakes. Phys Rev Lett100: 067205 (2008)
Liu Z, Yang J, Grey F, Liu J Z, Liu Y, Wang Y, Yang Y, Cheng Y, Zheng Q. Observation of microscale superlubricity in graphite. Phys Rev Lett108: 205503 (2012)
Yang J R, Liu Z, Grey F, Xu Z P, Li X D, Liu Y L, Urbakh M, Cheng Y, Zhen Q S. Observation of high-speed microscale superlubricity in graphite. Phys Rev Lett110: 255504 (2013)
Martin J M, Donnet C, Le Mogne T, Epicier T. Superlubricity of molybdenum disulphide. Phys Rev B48: 10583–10586 (1993)
Crossley A, Kisi E H, Bennet Summers J W, Myhra S. Ultra-low friction for a layered carbide-derived ceramic, Ti3SiC2, investigated by lateral force microscopy (LFM). J Phys D: Appl Phys32: 632–638 (1999)
Yu M-F, Oleg Lourie O, Dyer M J, Moloni K, Kelly T F, Ruoff R S. Strength and breaking mechanism of multiwalled carbon nanotubes under tensile load. Science287: 637–640 (2000)
Cumings J, Zettl A. Low-friction nanoscale linear bearing realized from multiwall carbon nanotubes. Science289: 602–604 (2000)
Zheng Q S, Jiang Q. Multiwalled carbon nanotubes as gigahertz oscillators. Phys Rev Lett88: 045503 (2002)
Jensen K, Mickelson C G W, Zettl A. Tunable nanoresonators constructed from telescoping nanotubes. Phys Rev Lett96: 215503 (2006)
Kawai S, Koch M, Gnecco E, Sadeghi A, Pawlak R, Glatzel T, Schwarz J, Goedecker S, Hecht S, Baratoff A, Grill L, Meyer E. Quantifying the atomic-level mechanics of single long physisorbed molecular chains. In Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of USA, 2014: 3968–3972.
Socoliuc A, Bennewitz R, Gnecco E, Meyer E. Transition from stick-slip to continuous sliding in atomic friction: Entering a new regime of ultralow friction. Phys Rev Lett92: 134301 (2004)
Gnecco E, Roth R, Baratoff A. Analytical expressions for the kinetic friction in the Prandtl-Tomlinson model. Phys Rev B86: 035443 (2012)
Socoliuc A, Gnecco E, Maier S, Pfeiffer O, Baratoff A, Bennewitz R, Meyer E. Atomic-scale control of friction by actuation of nanometer-sized contacts. Science313: 207–210 (2006)
Gnecco E, Socoliuc A, Maier S, Gessler J, Glatzel, Baratoff A, Meyer E. Dynamic superlubricity on insulating and conductive surfaces in ultra-high vacuum and ambient environment. Nanotechnology20: 025501 (2009)
Lantz M A, Wiesmann D, Gotsmann B. Dynamic superlubricity and the elimination of wear on the nanoscale. Nat Nanotechnol4: 586–591 (2009)
Roth R, Fajardo O Y, Mazo J J, Meyer E, Gnecco E. Lateral vibration effects in atomic-scale friction. Appl Phys Lett104: 083103 (2014)
Fajardo O Y, Gnecco E, Mazo J J. Out-of-plane and in-plane actuation effects on atomic-scale friction. Phys Rev B89: 075423 (2014)
Carpick R. Controlling friction. Science313: 184–185 (2006)
Jansen L, Hölscher H, Fuchs H, Schirmeisen A. Temperature dependence of atomic-scale stick-slip friction. Phys Rev Lett104: 256101 (2011)
Allen M, Tildesley T. Computer Simulations of Liquids. Oxford (UK): Clarendon, 1990.
Sang Y, Dube M, and Grant M. Thermal effects on atomic friction. Phys Rev Lett87: 174301 (2001)
Riedo E, Gnecco E, Bennewitz R, Meyer E, Brune H. Interaction potential and hopping dynamics governing sliding friction. Phys Rev Lett91: 084502 (2003)
Gnecco E, Meyer E. A Modern Approach to Friction. Cambridge (UK): Cambridge University Press, in preparation.
Kramers H A. Brownian motion in a field of force and the diffusion model of chemical reactions. Physica7: 284–304 (1940)
Krylov S Y, Jinesh K B, Valk H, Dienwiebel M, Frenken J W M. Thermally induced suppression of friction at the atomic scale. Phys Rev E71: 065101(R) (2005)
Krylov S Y, Frenken J W M. Thermal contact delocalization in atomic scale friction: A multitude of friction regimes. New J Phys9: 398 (2007)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com
Ernst MEYER. He received his PhD degree from the University of Basel, Switzerland, in 1991. He joined the faculty of the Department of Physics of the University of Basel in 1997. His current position is full professor of experimental physics and member of the Swiss Nanoscience Institute. His research interests are scanning probe microscopy, nanomechanics and nanotribology.
Rights and permissions
Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made.
The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.
To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
About this article
Cite this article
Meyer, E., Gnecco, E. Superlubricity on the nanometer scale. Friction 2, 106–113 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-014-0052-4
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-014-0052-4