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Reducing friction at the nano scale

Published
August 2006
Page(s)
4
Article Type
Frontiers

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Article summary

Two independent groups have taken important steps in overcoming friction in nanosized mechanical devices. Anisoara Socoliuc of the University of Basel in Switzerland and colleagues have shown that friction between the tip of an atomic force microscope and a salt crystal can be cut 100-fold by applying a small vibrating force normal to the interface. Meanwhile, Jeong Young Park and co-workers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California have found a way to control friction in a similar set-up using electric fields (Science 313 207 and 186).