title: Strongly temperature dependent sliding friction for a superconducting interface
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Physics Department and Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Complex Systems, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Sokoloff
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Tomassone
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Widom