Diffusion through Bifurcations in Oscillating Nano- and Microscale Contacts: Fundamentals and Applications

作者:Ma Ming; Sokolov Igor M; Wang Wen; Filippov Alexander E; Zheng Quanshui; Urbakh Michael*
来源:Physical Review X, 2015, 5(3): 031020.
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevX.5.031020

摘要

It has long been recognized that the diffusion of adsorbed molecules and clusters is the key controlling factor in most dynamical processes occurring on surfaces and in nanoscale-confined spaces. The ability to manipulate diffusion is essential for achieving efficient transport in nano- and microstructures and for many other applications. Through simulations and experiments, we found that under the influence of mechanical oscillations, the diffusion coefficient in nanoscale-confined regions can be greatly enhanced. This effect occurs due to bifurcations of particle trajectories caused by the reconstruction of the energy landscape during oscillations. We derive a parameter-free analytical model for the enhanced diffusion that is in excellent agreement with results of our numerical simulations. The oscillation-induced enhancement of diffusion may have interesting and promising applications in such areas as directed molecular transport, sorting of particles, and tribology. Here, our findings have been applied to studies of mechanical cleaning of surfaces from contamination. Through both experiments and simulations, we have shown that using an oscillating slider, one can significantly reduce the concentration of contaminants in a confined region, which is crucial for achieving superlow friction.