Tuning friction force and reducing wear by applying alternating electric current in conductive AFM experiments

Aisheng Song, Jian-Xun Zhao, Xin Tang, Hai-Jun Wu, Zhiyue Xu, Jiawei Cao, Xiao Liu, Hui Wang, Qunyang Li, Yuan-Zhong Hu, Xin Li, Jianbin Luo and Tian-Bao Ma ()
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Aisheng Song: Tsinghua University
Jian-Xun Zhao: Tsinghua University
Xin Tang: Tsinghua University
Hai-Jun Wu: Tsinghua University
Zhiyue Xu: Tsinghua University
Jiawei Cao: Tsinghua University
Xiao Liu: Tsinghua University
Hui Wang: Tsinghua University
Qunyang Li: Tsinghua University
Yuan-Zhong Hu: Tsinghua University
Xin Li: Beijing Institute of Technology
Jianbin Luo: Tsinghua University
Tian-Bao Ma: Tsinghua University

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract Reducing friction has been a human pursuit for centuries, and is especially important for the development of nanotechnology. Nowadays, with the atomic-level understanding of friction, it is possible to reduce friction by modulating the configuration and motion of interfacial atoms. However, how to further reduce friction by modulating the interfacial electronic properties is still unclear. Here we show a strategy to achieve friction and wear reduction through inducing dynamic electronic density redistribution via alternating electric current. The friction force between conductive Ir AFM tip and graphene on Ni substrate can be reduced to 1/4 under 1 kHz alternating current, and maintain for more than 70,000 s under 9.1 GPa contact pressure without any obvious wear. An electronic-level friction model (PTT-E model) is presented to unravel and quantify the tuning effect, showing that the alternating current induced dynamic electron density redistribution is the key to friction reduction. This work proposes a feasible and robust method to reduce friction and wear in nanomechanical devices, and advances the understanding and predicting of electronic contribution in friction tuning.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-59989-4

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