FUNDAMENTAL MECHANISMS FOR ENERGY-DISSIPATION AT SMALL SOLID SLIDING SURFACES

Previous results by the present author on microscopic mechanisms for k inetic friction between solid surfaces which are sliding relative to e ach other are reviewed and explained in terms of simple models involvi ng driven harmonic oscillators. It is then argued that there is no fri ction for sufficiently small anharmonic solids at sufficiently low tem peratures and for sufficiently weak intersurface interaction. (In the present work, dissipationless sliding was found to occur for the posit ion-dependent part of the force acting on an atom at the interface abo ut equal to 3 X 10(-12) N which is comparable to the value expected fo r rare gas films as a microbalance.)