Friction reduction of Ne monolayers on preplated metal surfaces

With a quartz-crystal microbalance technique we have studied the nanofriction of Ne monolayers at temperatures below 6.5 K and in ultrahigh-vacuum conditions deposited on metallic surfaces plated with heavy rare-gases multilayers. Covering the electrode with one layer of Kr or Xe increases the slippage of a Ne monolayer by a factor close to 3. Such a behavior has been observed with smooth lead electrodes as well as with rougher gold ones. The lubrication effect does not improve with thicker overlayers.