AVS 46th International Symposium
    Nanometer-scale Science and Technology Division Monday Sessions
       Session NS1-MoA

Paper NS1-MoA6
Sliding Friction of Xenon Monolayers and Bilayers on Pb and Cu Substrates

Monday, October 25, 1999, 3:40 pm, Room 612

Session: Nanoscale Tribology and Adhesion
Presenter: S.M. Winder, North Carolina State University
Authors: S.M. Winder, North Carolina State University
B. Mason, North Carolina State University
J. Krim, North Carolina State University
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Studies of the fundamental origins of friction have undergone rapid progress in recent years with the development of new experimental and computational techniques for measuring and simulating friction at atomic length and time scales.@footnote 1@ The increased interest has sparked a variety of discussions and debates concerning the nature of the atomic-scale mechanisms that dominate the dissipative process by which mechanical energy is transformed into heat. We report here our measurements of the sliding friction of xenon monolayers and bilayers sliding on Cu and Pb surfaces. Such studies provide information on the relative contributions of electronic and phononic dissipative contributions to sliding friction, since phonon dissipation is present at all film coverages, while electronic dissipation primarily impacts the monolayer. For the system Xe/Pb the relative contributions of monolayer and bilayer coverages to the measured friction appear similar to those of Xe/Ag(111).@footnote 2@ This indicates the primary mechanism of friction in Xe/Pb and Xe/Ag is through phonons within the adsorbate. The substrate Pb is of particular interest on account of the recent observation of superconductivity-dependent sliding friction on this metal. The system Xe/Cu is interesting because the interaction potential of Xe/Cu is known accurately, allowing highly reliable comparisons of theory to experiment. Work funded by NSF DMR#9896280. @FootnoteText@ @footnote 1@ J. Krim, Scientific American, vol. 275, pp 74-80 (1996). @footnote 2@ C. Daly and J. Krim, Physical Review Letters, vol. 76, pp 803-806 (1996).