Observation of kinks and antikinks in colloidal monolayers driven across ordered surfaces

ABSTRACT Friction between solids is responsible for many phenomena such as earthquakes, wear or crack propagation1,2,3,4. Unlike macroscopic objects, which only touch locally owing to their

surface roughness, spatially extended contacts form between atomically flat surfaces. They are described by the Frenkel–Kontorova model, which considers a monolayer of interacting particles

on a periodic substrate potential5,6,7,8. In addition to the well-known stick–slip motion, such models also predict the formation of kinks and antikinks9,10,11,12, which greatly reduce the

friction between the monolayer and the substrate. Here, we report the direct observation of kinks and antikinks in a two-dimensional colloidal crystal that is driven across different types

of ordered substrate. We show that the frictional properties only depend on the number and density of such excitations, which propagate through the monolayer along the direction of the

applied force. In addition, we also observe kinks on quasicrystalline surfaces, which demonstrates that they are not limited to periodic substrates but occur under more general conditions.

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support SIMILAR CONTENT BEING VIEWED BY OTHERS STATISTICAL LAWS OF STICK-SLIP FRICTION AT MESOSCALE Article Open access 05 October 2023 ATOMISTIC MECHANISMS FOR FRICTIONAL ENERGY DISSIPATION

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We thank V. Blickle for helpful discussions. This work is financially supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (BE 1788-10). AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND

AFFILIATIONS * 2. Physikalisches Institut, Universität Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 57, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany Thomas Bohlein, Jules Mikhael & Clemens Bechinger * Max-Planck-Institut für

Intelligente Systeme, Heisenbergstraße 3, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany Thomas Bohlein & Clemens Bechinger Authors * Thomas Bohlein View author publications You can also search for this

author inPubMed Google Scholar * Jules Mikhael View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Clemens Bechinger View author publications You can also

search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar CONTRIBUTIONS T.B. carried out the experiment and analysed data, J.M. designed the experiment and C.B. designed the experiment and wrote the

paper. CORRESPONDING AUTHOR Correspondence to Clemens Bechinger. ETHICS DECLARATIONS COMPETING INTERESTS The authors declare no competing financial interests. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

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CITE THIS ARTICLE Bohlein, T., Mikhael, J. & Bechinger, C. Observation of kinks and antikinks in colloidal monolayers driven across ordered surfaces. _Nature Mater_ 11, 126–130 (2012).

https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat3204 Download citation * Received: 28 July 2011 * Accepted: 17 November 2011 * Published: 18 December 2011 * Issue Date: February 2012 * DOI:

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