It was demonstrated that lateral vibrations of a substrate could dramatically increase surface diffusivity and mobility and reduce friction at the nanoscale. Dilatancy was shown to play an essential role in the dynamics of a nanometer-size tip which interacts with a vibrating surface. An abrupt dilatancy transition, from a state with a small tip-surface separation to a state with a large separation, was found as the vibration frequency increased. Atomic force microscopy experiments were suggested which could test the predicted effects.

Tuning Diffusion and Friction in Microscopic Contacts by Mechanical Excitations. Z.Tshiprut, A.E.Filippov, M.Urbakh: Physical Review Letters, 2005, 95[1], 016101 (3pp)