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  • Open Access

On-Device Control of Electronic Friction

Zhaokuan Yu1,2, Jinbo Bian2, Jin Wang3,4, Zonghuiyi Jiang5, Xuanyu Huang2,6,7, Linxin Zhai2, Xin Lu1, Xiaofei Liu5, Quanshui Zheng2,6,7,† et al.

Zhiping Xu2,*

  • *Contact author: xuzp@tsinghua.edu.cn
  • †Contact author: zhengqs@tsinghua.edu.cn
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Phys. Rev. X 16, 011050 – Published 6 March, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/jlc2-qmr1

Abstract

Friction causes mechanical energy dissipation and material degradation in machinery and devices. While phononic friction is well understood via anharmonic lattice dynamics, the physics of electronic friction remains unclear due to challenges in separating electronic degrees of freedom from phononic ones in experiments and analyzing the nonequilibrium interactions between ionic movement and electronic dynamics in theory. To tackle this problem, we construct a sliding device featuring 2D crystalline interfaces that possess ultrasmooth and minimally interacting surfaces, achieving the state of structural superlubricity with no wear and minimal friction. Using electrical and mechanical controls, we tuned the nature of interfacial electronic coupling and charge densities in materials in an on-device manner, which allows us to disentangle the electron and phonon contributions to friction. Our experimental data and theoretical analysis supported by first-principles calculations demonstrate that electronic friction can well surpass phononic contributions and dominate energy dissipation at structural superlubricity contacts. These findings offer fresh insights into the mechanism of electronic friction and promising opportunities for friction control in device applications.

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Popular Summary

Friction at tiny sliding contacts wastes energy and limits the reliability of microscale devices. We use structurally superlubric contacts between graphite and molybdenum disulfide to strongly suppress lattice vibrations, allowing us to isolate and tune electronic friction in situ by adjusting pressure, gate voltage, and bias across the interface. We find that electronic friction is governed by a moving depletion zone whose reconstruction and relaxation in the semiconductor convert mechanical work into heat. By showing how this friction channel can both exceed and be nearly switched off relative to phononic losses, we demonstrate practical routes to control dissipation in on-device settings. Over the long term, this understanding of electronic friction creates new opportunities for designing durable, energy-efficient micro- and nanosystems.

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Phys. Rev. X 16, 011050– Published 6 March, 2026
  • Received 12 July 2025
  • Accepted 22 January 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.

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