Strongly temperature dependent sliding friction for a superconducting interface
A sudden drop in mechanical friction between an adsorbed nitrogen monolayer and a lead substrate occurs when the lead passes through the superconducting transition temperature. We attribute this effect to a sudden drop at the superconducting transition temperature of the substrate Ohmic heating. The Ohmic heating is due to the electronic screening current that results from the sliding adsorbed film.
Sokoloff
JB
Physics Department and Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Complex Systems, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
Tomassone
MS
Widom
A