Friction as a probe of surface properties of a polymer glass

We probe the temperature dependence of friction at the interface between a glassy poly(methylmethacrylate) lens and a flat substrate coated with a methyl-terminated self-assembled monolayer. The monolayer exhibits density defects which act as pinning sites for the polymer chains. We show that the shear response of such an interface supports the existence, at the surface of the glassy polymer, of a nanometer-thick layer of mobile chains. Friction can be ascribed to the interplay between viscouslike dissipation in this layer and depinning of chains adsorbed on the substrate. We further show that the pinning dynamics is controlled by \beta rotational motions localized at the interface.