| Abstract Scope |
Structural superlubricity describes an intriguing physical phenomenon, whereby friction at an atomically flat, sufficiently rigid, structurally incommensurate and molecularly clean interface is expected to vanish [1]. Long thought to be confined to the ideal yet impractical ultrahigh vacuum environment, experiments showed that structural superlubricity can be realized under ambient conditions at the interface of gold nanoislands and graphite substrates [2]. In this talk, we will present results of combined atomic force microscopy (AFM) experiments and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations aimed at understanding why and how structural superlubricity persists under ambient conditions, in the inevitable presence of molecular contaminants [3].
[1] M.R. Vazirisereshk, A. Martini, M.Z. Baykara, Applied Physics Reviews 5, 041102 (2018)
[2] E. Cihan, S. Ipek, E. Durgun, M.Z. Baykara, Nature Communications 7, 12055 (2016)
[3] W.H. Oo, H. Gao, M.H. Müser, M.Z. Baykara, Nano Letters 24, 12118 (2024) |