Abstract
Atomic stick-slip patterns are readily observed in experiments. The traditional description of atomic-scale friction in terms of mechanical stick-slip instabilities (the Prandtl−Tomlinson model) appears so successful, that it obscures the actual mechanisms of energy dissipation. Here, we show that the conventional model fails completely, because it can only explain the atomic resolution of surface force maps at a level of dissipative forces that is many orders of magnitude higher than what we should expect for the slipping nano-contact. We demonstrate that we can “feel” atoms in nano-scale friction only because there is always a tiny mass that rapidly slips between atomic positions, well before the rest of the moving body follows.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Carpick, R.W. and Salmeron, M., Chem. Rev., 1997, vol. 97, p. 1163.
Prandtl, L., Z. Angew. Math. Mech., 1928, vol. 8, p. 85.
Tomlinson, G.A., Philos. Mag., 1929, vol. 7, p. 905.
Dienwiebel, M., Verhoeven, G.S., Pradeep, N., et al., Phys. Rev. Lett., 2004, vol. 92, p. 126101.
Krylov, S.Yu., Jinesh, K.B., Valk, H., et al., Phys. Rev. E: Stat. Phys., Plasmas, Fluids, Relat. Interdiscip. Top., 2005, vol. 71, p. 065101.
Krylov, S.Yu. and Frenken, J.W.M., Phys. Rev. B: Condens. Matter, 2009, vol. 80, p. 235435.
Krylov, S.Yu. and Frenken, J.W.M., Phys. Status Solidi B, 2014, vol. 251, p. 711.
Krylov, S.Yu. and Frenken, J.W.M., Colloid J., 2012, vol. 74, p. 569.
Müser, M.N., Urbakh, M., and Robbins, M.O., Adv. Chem. Phys., 2003, vol. 126, p. 187.
Schirmeisen, A., Jansen, L., and Fuchs, H., Phys. Rev. B: Condens. Matter, 2005, vol. 71, p. 245403.
Verhoeven, G.S., Dienwiebel, M., and Frenken, J.W.M., Phys. Rev. B: Condens. Matter, 2004, vol. 70, p. 165418.
Dudko, O.K., Filippov, A.E., Klafter, J., and Urbakh, M., Chem. Phys. Lett., 2002, vol. 352, p. 499.
Medyanik, S.N., Liu, W.K., Sung, I.H., and Carpick, R.W., Phys. Rev. Lett., 2006, vol. 97, p. 136106.
Roth, R., Glatzel, T., Steiner, P., et al., Tribol. Lett., 2010, vol. 39, p. 63.
Gnecco, E., Bennewitz, R., Gyalog, T., et al., Phys. Rev. Lett., 2000, vol. 84, p. 1172.
Hänggi, P., Talkner, P., and Borkovec, M., Rev. Mod. Phys., 1990, vol. 62, p. 251.
Maier, S., Sang, Y., Filleter, T., et al., Phys. Rev. B: Condens. Matter, 2005, vol. 72, p. 245418.
Johnson, K.L. and Woodhouse, I., Tribol. Lett., 1998, vol. 5, p. 155.
Ala-Nissila, T., Ferrando, R., and Ying, S.C., Adv. Phys., 2002, vol. 51, p. 949.
Abel, D., Krylov, S.Yu., and Frenken, J.W.M., Phys. Rev. Lett., 2007, vol. 99, p. 166102.
Krylov, S.Yu. and Frenken, J.W.M., New J. Phys., 2007, vol. 9, p. 398.
Krylov, S.Yu., Dijksman, J.A., Van Loo, W.A., and Frenken, J.W.M., Phys. Rev. Lett., 2006, vol. 97, p. 166103.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
The article is published in the original.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Krylov, S.Y., van Baarle, D.W., Beck, M.E.S. et al. Why do we “feel” atoms in nano-scale friction?. Colloid J 79, 81–86 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1061933X16060089
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1061933X16060089