Unique Near-Zero Friction Regime of C60 Molecular Bearings Along [120] Direction

We numerically analyzed unique near-zero friction regime of the C60 molecular bearings, graphite/C60/graphite interface, for the lateral scan along the [12 0] direction under the relatively low loading condition. Here the C60 molecule slides, facing its six-membered ring nearly parallel to both the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of physics. Conference series Vol. 258; no. 1; p. 012013
Main Authors Itamura, Noriaki, Asawa, Hiroko, Miura, Kouji, Sasaki, Naruo
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Bristol IOP Publishing 01.11.2010
Subjects
Bearings
Buckminsterfullerene
Graphene
Graphite
Hysteresis loops
Optimization
Physics
Potential energy
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Summary:We numerically analyzed unique near-zero friction regime of the C60 molecular bearings, graphite/C60/graphite interface, for the lateral scan along the [12 0] direction under the relatively low loading condition. Here the C60 molecule slides, facing its six-membered ring nearly parallel to both the upper and lower graphene sheets. The sinusoidal motion of the C60 molecule along the carbon bond is continuous and reversible during the forward and backward scans. As a result, the hysteresis loop of the lateral force curve nearly disappears, which leads to a mean frictional force of nearly zero, (FL)≃ 0. The mechanism of this conservative motion is clarified by comparing the structural optimization of the C60 molecular bearing system with the direct calculation of the local minimum position located on the total potential energy surface Vtotal. The energy barrier between the neighboring minimum positions always exists, which prevents the C60 molecule from taking stick-slip motion.
ISSN:1742-6596
1742-6588
1742-6596
DOI:10.1088/1742-6596/258/1/012013