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Sliding on vacuum

Nature Materials volume 10, pages 87–88 (2011)Cite this article

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Bodies in relative motion, separated by nanometres of vacuum, experience a tiny friction force. Experiments involving a conductor–superconductor transition provide essential information for distinguishing the contribution of electrons from that of lattice vibrations in this non-contact form of friction.

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Figure 1: Three different interaction and dissipation mechanisms for friction between bodies separated by a layer of vacuum.

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  1. Bernd Gotsmann is at IBM Research – Zurich, 8803 Rueschlikon, Switzerland. bgo@zurich.ibm.com,

    Bernd Gotsmann

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  1. Bernd Gotsmann
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Gotsmann, B. Sliding on vacuum. Nature Mater 10, 87–88 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat2947

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