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Colloidal friction

Kinks in motion

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The ability of laser interference potentials to trap and control colloidal particles opens up a new potential area of 'toy systems' displaying real physics. A beautiful example is the study of friction between colloidal crystals and a variety of artificially created surface potentials.

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Figure 1: Extraordinary substrate geometries obtained by interfering laser beams.
Figure 2: Soliton superstructures of sliding colloidal particles.

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Correspondence to Andrea Vanossi or Erio Tosatti.

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Vanossi, A., Tosatti, E. Kinks in motion. Nature Mater 11, 97–98 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat3229

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