Multiscale superlubricity using nanopillar array

抄録

Superlubricity, where the friction vanishes or significantly small, is of great interest in friction and it has been realized at the nanoscale in the piconewtons, but not yet at the macroscale. We demonstrate the macroscopic superlubricity is realized using a superlubric pillar array. The superlubricity of piconewtons appearing at a single silicon nanopillar is a novel type, which is quite different from the structural superlubricity studied so far and enables the macroscopic superlubricity. The conditions at which the macroscopic superlubricity appears are summarized using the friction coefficient and the viscous friction coefficient. This work clarifies the factor that controls fiction at the macroscopic scale.