JERUSALEM, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- Researchers from Israel and Japan have successfully applied the physics phenomenon of superlubricity -- where friction between surfaces nearly vanishes -- to electronic components for the first time, Tel Aviv University said on Wednesday.
It said the findings, published in the journal Nature, could boost computing power and energy efficiency in technologies from AI to medical systems.
The development can help address a critical bottleneck in computing: friction generated when memory components operate at high speeds.
By mimicking nature's method of creating frictionless surfaces, the team combined ultra-thin layers of boron, nitrogen, and graphene -- a material just one atom thick -- to enable near-effortless movement between atomic layers.
Friction in electronics slows data processing and increases energy use, particularly in systems handling millions of operations per second.
The researchers compared their approach to aligning two egg cartons: when perfectly matched, they stick, but even a slight twist allows easy separation. Similarly, offsetting atomic layers prevented synchronization, reducing friction by up to 90 percent, the study found.
In experiments, graphene sheets with microscopic holes allowed synchronized clusters of boron and nitrogen atoms to move freely. This "frictionless" state accelerated data transfer while cutting energy consumption, potentially enhancing devices like sensors, medical implants, and AI hardware.
Superlubricity, first observed in the 1990s, has until now been largely confined to mechanical systems like engines. ■
