Related papers: Evidence for contact delocalization in atomic scal…
We show that by displacing two optical lattices with respect to each other, we may produce interactions similar to the ones describing ferro-magnetism in condensed matter physics. We also show that particularly simple choices of the…
A deterministic theory describing the melting of an ultrathin lubricant film between two atomically smooth solid surfaces has been developed. The lubricant state is described by introducing a parameter of excess volume that arises owing to…
At the mesoscale friction occurs through the breaking and formation of local contacts. This is often described by the earthquake-like model which requires numerical studies. We show that this phenomenon can also be described by a master…
Interaction of atoms with twisted light is the subject of intense experimental and theoretical investigation. In almost all studies, the atom is viewed as a localized probe of the twisted light field. However, as argued in this paper,…
Conventional dynamic atomic force microscopy (AFM) can be extended to bimodal and multimodal AFM in which the cantilever is simultaneously excited at two ore more resonance frequencies. Such excitation schemes result in one additional…
The physics of sliding friction is gaining impulse from nanoscale and mesoscale experiments, simulations, and theoretical modeling. This Colloquium reviews some recent developments in modeling and in atomistic simulation of friction,…
We propose and analyze a scheme to interface individual neutral atoms with nanoscale solid-state systems. The interface is enabled by optically trapping the atom via the strong near-field generated by a sharp metallic nanotip. We show that…
One of the most fundamental questions in tribology concerns the area dependence of friction at the nanoscale. Here, experiments are presented where the frictional resistance of nanoparticles is measured by pushing them with the tip of an…
Colloidal probe Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) allows to explore sliding friction phenomena in graphite contacts of nominal lateral size up to hundreds of nanometers. It is known that contact formation involves tribo-induced material…
Digital Image Correlation is used to study the micromechanics of a multi-contact interface formed between a rough elastomer and a smooth glass surface. The in-plane elastomer deformation is monitored during the incipient sliding regime,…
Various methods of force measurement with the Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) are compared for their ability to accurately determine the tip-surface force from analysis of the nonlinear cantilever motion. It is explained how intermodulation,…
A trapped ion transported along a periodic potential is studied as a paradigmatic nanocontact frictional interface. The combination of the periodic corrugation potential and a harmonic trapping potential creates a one-dimensional energy…
Modelling of rough frictional interfaces is often based on asperity models, in which the individual behaviour of individual microjunctions is assumed. In the absence of local measurements at the microjunction scale, quantitative comparison…
The spin-polarized scanning tunnelling microscope (STM) can in principle resolve not only the electronic, but also the magnetic surface structure. We model recent STM measurements achieving magnetic resolution on the atomic scale by a…
Contacts between particles in dense, sheared suspensions are believed to underpin much of their rheology. Roughness and adhesion are known to constrain the relative motion of particles, and thus globally affect the shear response, but an…
Understanding the spin-relaxation mechanism of single adatoms is an essential step towards creating atomic magnetic memory bits or even qubits. Here we present an essentially parameter-free theory by combining \textit{ab-initio} electronic…
Disentangling the relationship between the insulating state with a charge gap and the magnetic order in an antiferromagnetic (AF) Mott insulator remains difficult due to inherent phase separation as the Mott state is perturbed. Measuring…
We show that the presence of a harmonic trap may in itself lead to many-body localization for cold atoms confined in that trap in a quasi-one-dimensional geometry. Specifically, the coexistence of delocalized phase in the center of the trap…
We find that the jump-into-contact of the cantilever in the atomic force microscope (AFM) is caused by an inherent instability in the motion of the AFM cantilever. The analysis is based on a simple model of the cantilever moving in a…
The understanding of friction at nano-scales, ruled by the regular arrangement of atoms, is surprisingly incomplete. Here we provide a unified understanding by studying the interlocking potential energy of two infinite contacting surfaces…