Tribology at the Flip of a Switch: Dynamic Control of Friction and Adhesion with Surface Phonon Polaritons
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Advanced applications of robotics and haptics require the ability to modulate friction and adhesion in a dynamic fashion, in real time. Existing technologies, however, suffer from the need for high voltage circuitry, slow response times, and poor spatial resolution, limiting their utility. Moving away from traditional approaches, here we demonstrate that tuned interfacial interactions involving surface phonon polaritons (SPhPs) can control friction and adhesion in real time at surfaces. SPhPs are hybrid light-matter states formed by the coupling of photons and phonons, which can be excited in polar dielectrics. Since phonon coupling is a primary mechanism for frictional energy dissipation, optically gating SPhPs provides a pathway to controlling this. Moreover, the dipolar nature of the polaritons can modify adhesion in response to localized surface electric field confinement. Here, using atomic force microcopy (AFM), we demonstrate that when SiC thin films are optically pumped in the Reststrahlen (RS) band, the friction and adhesion between a Pt probe tip and a SiC surface can be turned “on” and “off’ with light, with a nearly 3-fold increase in friction and 4-fold increase in adhesion, when illuminated. The influence of SiC film thickness, local interfacial dielectric, and optical excitation energy are described.
Source: ChemRxiv
Institution: Texas A&M University
Language: English
Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7223057494