Related papers: Observation of Aubry transition in finite atom cha…
Friction in ordered atomistic layers plays a central role in various nanoscale systems ranging from nanomachines to biological systems. It governs transport properties, wear and dissipation. Defects and incommensurate lattice constants…
Stick-slip -- the sequence of mechanical instabilities through which a slider advances on a solid substrate -- is pervasive throughout sliding friction, from nano to geological scales. Here we suggest that trapped cold ions in an optical…
Sliding friction between crystal lattices and the physics of cold ion traps are so far non-overlapping fields. Two sliding lattices may either stick and show static friction or slip with dynamic friction; cold ions are known to form static…
The possibility to achieve entirely frictionless, i.e. superlubric, sliding between solids, holds enormous potential for the operation of mechanical devices. At small length scales, where mechanical contacts are well-defined, Aubry…
The Aubry unpinned--pinned transition in the sliding of two incommensurate lattices occurs for increasing mutual interaction strength in one dimension ($1D$) and is of second order at $T=0$, turning into a crossover at nonzero temperatures.…
We investigate numerically a simple microscopic model to describe wearless dry friction between atomically flat contact interfaces without thermal fluctuations (T=0K). The analysis of the incommensurate ground state shows a breaking of…
The Aubry transition between sliding and pinned phases, driven by the competition between two incommensurate length scales, represents a paradigm that is applicable to a large variety of microscopically distinct systems. Despite previous…
Trapped ion systems constitute a well controllable scenario for the study and emulation of nanofriction, and in particular of Frenkel-Kontorova-like models. This is in particular the case when a topological defect is created in a zigzag ion…
Two-dimensional (2D) crystalline colloidal monolayers sliding over a laser-induced optical lattice recently emerged as a new tool for the study of friction between ideal crystal surfaces. Here we focus in particular on static friction, the…
We study analytically and numerically the thermoelectric properties of cold ions placed in an optical lattice. Our results show that the transition from sliding to pinned phase takes place at a certain critical amplitude of lattice…
Friction between ordered, atomically smooth surfaces at the nanoscale (nanofriction) is often governed by stick-slip processes. To test long-standing atomistic models of such processes, we implement a synthetic nanofriction interface…
Structural superlubricity is an intriguing physical phenomenon, whereby sliding at a structurally incommensurate, atomically flat interface yields vanishingly small friction forces. Despite its recent experimental validation, critical…
Superlubricity, or alternatively termed structural (super)lubrictiy, is a concept where ultra-low friction is expected at the interface between sliding surfaces if these surfaces are incommensurate and thus unable to interlock. In this…
Structural superlubricity, one of the most important concepts in modern tribology, has attracted lots of interest in both fundamental research and practical applications. However, the underlying model, known as the Prandtl-Tomlinson (PT)…
Conduction through materials crucially depends on how ordered they are. Periodically ordered systems exhibit extended Bloch waves that generate metallic bands, whereas disorder is known to limit conduction and localize the motion of…
Properties of twist grain boundaries (TGB), long known structurally but not tribologically, are simulated under sliding and load, with Au(111) our test case. The load-free TGB moir\'e is smooth and superlubric at incommensurate twists.…
The effects of a displacive structural phase transition on sliding friction are in principle accessible to nanoscale tools such as the Atomic Force Microscopy, yet they are still surprisingly unexplored. We present model simulations…
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…
We explore dynamic structural superlubricity for the case of a relatively large contact area, where the friction force is proportional to the area (exceeding $\sim 100\,nm^2$) experimentally, numerically, and theoretically. We use a setup…
An adiabatic approach is developed for the problem of boundary friction between two atomically smooth and incommensurate solid surfaces, separated by a monolayer of lubricant atoms. This method permits to consider very slow macroscopic…