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The sliding of three-dimensional clusters and two-dimensional islandsadsorbed on crystal surfaces represent an important test case to understandfriction. Even for the same material, monoatomic islands and thick clusterswill not as a rule exhibit the same friction, but specific differences have notbeen explored. Through realistic molecular dynamics simulations of the staticfriction gold on graphite, an experimentally relevant system, we uncover as afunction of gold thickness a progressive drop of static friction from monolayerislands, that are easily pinned, towards clusters, that slide more readily. Themain ingredient contributing to this thickness-induced lubricity appears to bethe increased effective rigidity of the atomic contact, acting to reduce thecluster interdigitation with the substrate. A second element which plays a roleis lateral contact size, which can accommodate the solitons typical of theincommensurate interface only above a critical contact diameter, which islarger for monolayer islands than for thick clusters. The two effects concur tomake clusters more lubric than islands, and large sizes more lubric thansmaller ones. These conclusions are expected to be of broader applicability indiverse nanotribological systems, where the role played by static, and dynamic,friction is generally quite important.

Slider Thickness Promotes Lubricity: from 2D Islands to 3D Clusters