Aubry pinning transition of twisted two-dimensional material bilayers
Bilayers of 2D materials such as graphene are frictionally pinned at perfect alignment but free sliding (``superlubric'') at large twists. Small-twist bilayers, heavily reconstructed, might equally remain superlubric, or turn spontaneously pinned through a so-called Aubry transition. Here, simulation and theory show that small twist graphene and other 2D bilayers remain unpinned even under high loads. A geometric criterion useful for future microscale friction planning---the width of moir\'e domain walls larger than four lattice spacings---characterizes this robust superlubricity.
Authors
- Erio Tosatti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5219-7728)
- Jin Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3924-2942)
Institutions
- The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) (IT)
- Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (IT)
- International Centre for Theoretical Sciences (IN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Physical review. B./Physical review. B
- Published
- 2025-10-09
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1103/fmrr-3r5j
- Citations
- 3
- Primary Topic
- Advanced Materials and Mechanics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 2.14