2007/02/11 by T. Zykova-Timan, Davide Ceresoli, D. Ceresoli +2
Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Diamond and Carbon-based Materials Research #Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications #Microstructure and mechanical properties #cond-mat.mtrl-sci
paper · pdf · doi:10.1038/nmat1836
published as Nature Materials 6, 230 (2007) · 5 pages, 6 figures
openalex publication_date 2007/02/11 · arxiv created 2007/03/13 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The physics of sliding nanofriction at high temperature near the substrate melting point \Tmelt is so far unexplored. We conducted simulations of hard tips sliding on a prototype non-melting surface, NaCl(100), revealing in this regime two distinct and opposite phenomena for plowing and for grazing friction. We found a frictional drop close to \Tmelt for deep plowing and wear, but on the contrary a frictional rise for grazing, wearless sliding. For both phenomena we obtain a fresh microscopic understanding, relating the former to ``skating'' through a local liquid cloud, the latter to linear response properties of the free substrate surface. It is argued that both phenomena should be pursued experimentally, and much more general than the specific NaCl surface case. Most metals in particular possessing one or more close packed non-melting surface, such as Pb, Al or Au(111), that should behave quite similarly.