Quantum stick-slip motion in nanoscaled friction

TL;DR

This paper explores quantum effects in nanoscale friction, revealing how quantum tunneling influences dissipation and motion regimes, with implications for interpreting experimental data.

Contribution

It introduces a quantum mechanical version of the classical friction model, analyzing quantum tunneling effects on nanoscale frictional behavior.

Findings

Quantum tunneling reduces frictional dissipation compared to classical motion.

Different motion regimes are controlled by system parameters like corrugation and temperature.

The study provides guidelines for experimental data interpretation in quantum friction.

Abstract

Friction in atomistic systems is usually described by the classical Prandtl-Tomlinson model suitable for capturing the dragging force of a nanoparticle in a periodic potential. Here we consider the quantum mechanical version of this model in which the dissipation is facilitated by releasing heat to an external bath reservoir. The time evolution of the system is captured with the Liouville-von Neumann equation through the density matrix of the system in the Markov approximation. We examine several kinetic and dissipative properties of the nanoparticle by delineating classical vs quantum mechanical effects. We find that the Landau-Zener tunneling is a key factor in the overall reduction of the frictional dissipation when compared to the classical motion in which such tunneling is absent. Other regimes of motion, controlled by the corrugation parameter and other properties, are also found. This in-depth study analyzes the interplay between velocity, strength of interaction, and temperature to control the frictional {force} and provide useful guidelines for experimental data interpretation.