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MM: Fachverband Metall- und Materialphysik

MM 4: Topical Session: Quasicrystals & Complex Metallic Alloys I

MM 4.1: Topical Talk

Montag, 11. März 2013, 10:15–10:45, H25

Observation of kinks and antikinks in colloidal monolayers driven across periodic and quasiperiodic surfaces — •Clemens Bechinger — Universität Stuttgart, 2. Physikalisches Institut, Stuttgart

Friction between solids is responsible for many phenomena like earthquakes, wear or crack propagation. Unlike macroscopic objects which only touch locally due 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 potential. In addition to the well-known slip-stick motion such models also predict the formation of kinks and antikinks which largely 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 which is driven across different types of ordered substrates [1]. 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 also occur under more general conditions.

[1] T. Bohlein, J. Mikhael, and C. Bechinger, Observation of kinks and antikinks in colloidal monolayers driven across ordered surfaces, Nature Materials 11, 126 (2012).