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PreprintCC BY-NC-NDChemRxiv

Tribology at the Flip of a Switch: Dynamic Control of Friction and Adhesion with Surface Phonon Polaritons

  • Piyashi Sengupta1,2
  • Saeed Rahmanian Koshkaki1,2
  • Luke K. Kruse3,2
  • Dmitry Kurouski4,2
  • Arkajit Mandal1,2
  • M. Cynthia Hipwell3,2
  • James D. Batteas1,2,5
5 affiliations
  1. 1Department of Chemistry
  2. 2Texas A&M University
  3. 3Department of Mechanical Engineering
  4. 4Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics
  5. 5Department of Materials Science and Engineering
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Abstract

Advanced applications of robotics and haptics require the ability to modulate friction and adhesion in a dynamic fashion, in real time. Existing technologies, however, suffer from the need for high voltage circuitry, slow response times, and poor spatial resolution, limiting their utility. Moving away from traditional approaches, here we demonstrate that tuned interfacial interactions involving surface phonon polaritons (SPhPs) can control friction and adhesion in real time at surfaces. SPhPs are hybrid light-matter states formed by the coupling of photons and phonons, which can be excited in polar dielectrics. Since phonon coupling is a primary mechanism for frictional energy dissipation, optically gating SPhPs provides a pathway to controlling this. Moreover, the dipolar nature of the polaritons can modify adhesion in response to localized surface electric field confinement. Here, using atomic force microcopy (AFM), we demonstrate that when SiC thin films are optically pumped in the Reststrahlen (RS) band, the friction and adhesion between a Pt probe tip and a SiC surface can be turned “on” and “off’ with light, with a nearly 3-fold increase in friction and 4-fold increase in adhesion, when illuminated. The influence of SiC film thickness, local interfacial dielectric, and optical excitation energy are described.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@misc{sengupta2026tribology,
  title = {{Tribology at the Flip of a Switch: Dynamic Control of Friction and Adhesion with Surface Phonon Polaritons}},
  author = {Piyashi Sengupta and Saeed Rahmanian Koshkaki and Luke K. Kruse and Dmitry Kurouski and Arkajit Mandal and M. Cynthia Hipwell and James D. Batteas},
  howpublished = {ChemRxiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.26434/chemrxiv.15010708/v1},
  url = {https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15010708/v1},
  note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY  - UNPB
TI  - Tribology at the Flip of a Switch: Dynamic Control of Friction and Adhesion with Surface Phonon Polaritons
AU  - Piyashi Sengupta
AU  - Saeed Rahmanian Koshkaki
AU  - Luke K. Kruse
AU  - Dmitry Kurouski
AU  - Arkajit Mandal
AU  - M. Cynthia Hipwell
AU  - James D. Batteas
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/20
PB  - ChemRxiv
DO  - 10.26434/chemrxiv.15010708/v1
UR  - https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15010708/v1
AB  - Advanced applications of robotics and haptics require the ability to modulate friction and adhesion in a dynamic fashion, in real time. Existing technologies, however, suffer from the need for high voltage circuitry, slow response times, and poor spatial resolution, limiting their utility. Moving away from traditional approaches, here we demonstrate that tuned interfacial interactions involving surface phonon polaritons (SPhPs) can control friction and adhesion in real time at surfaces. SPhPs are hybrid light-matter states formed by the coupling of photons and phonons, which can be excited in polar dielectrics. Since phonon coupling is a primary mechanism for frictional energy dissipation, optically gating SPhPs provides a pathway to controlling this. Moreover, the dipolar nature of the polaritons can modify adhesion in response to localized surface electric field confinement. Here, using atomic force microcopy (AFM), we demonstrate that when SiC thin films are optically pumped in the Reststrahlen (RS) band, the friction and adhesion between a Pt probe tip and a SiC surface can be turned “on” and “off’ with light, with a nearly 3-fold increase in friction and 4-fold increase in adhesion, when illuminated. The influence of SiC film thickness, local interfacial dielectric, and optical excitation energy are described.
ER  -