(June 4, 2015) In tuning friction to the point where it disappears,
technique could boost development of nanomachines.
Friction is all around us, working against the motion of
tires on pavement, the scrawl of a pen across paper, and even the flow of
proteins through the bloodstream. Whenever two surfaces come in contact, there
is friction, except in very special cases where friction essentially vanishes —
a phenomenon, known as “superlubricity,” in which surfaces simply slide over each
other without resistance.
Now physicists at MIT have developed an experimental
technique to simulate friction at the nanoscale. Using their technique, the
researchers are able to directly observe individual atoms at the interface of
two surfaces and manipulate their arrangement, tuning the amount of friction
between the surfaces. By changing the spacing of atoms on one surface, they
observed a point at which friction disappears.