Sliding and Pinning in Structurally Lubric 2D Material Interfaces

Abstract: A plethora of two-dimensional (2D) materials entered the physics and engineering scene in the last two decades. Their robust, membrane-like sheet permit -- mostly require -- deposition, giving rise to solid-solid dry interfaces whose bodily mobility, pinning, and general tribological properties under shear stress are currently being understood and controlled, experimentally and theoretically. In this Colloquium we use simulation case studies of twisted graphene system as a prototype workhorse tool to demonstrate and discuss the general picture of 2D material interface sliding. First, we highlight the crucial mechanical difference, often overlooked, between small and large incommensurabilities, corresponding e.g., to small and large twist angles in graphene interfaces. In both cases, focusing on flat, structurally lubric, "superlubric" geometries, we elucidate and review the generally separate scaling with area of static friction in pinned states and of kinetic friction during sliding, tangled as they are with the effects of velocity, temperature, load, and defects. Including the role of island boundaries and of elasticity, and corroborating when possible the existing case-by-case results in literature beyond graphene, the overall picture proposed is meant for general 2D material interfaces, that are of importance for the physics and technology of existing and future bilayer and multilayer systems.