Nontrivial Consequences of Thermal Delocalization of Mechanical Nanocontact upon Friction in the Atomic Scale

Abstract

Thermal delocalization of nanosized mechanical contacts may lead to nontrivial features of atomic-scale friction. In particular, these features are specific slips, which have previously been found in atomic force experiments and are realized via a transition state, with this state being explained by the role an entropic effect in the effective interaction between bodies brought in contact. In this work, it has been shown that this effect may also lead to an atypical nonmonotonic dependence of friction force on the height of lateral potential barriers and temperature.