Fundamentals of Friction and Wear on the Nanoscale

Enrico Gnecco received his Ph.D. from the University of Genoa, and served as postdoctoral and senior researcher at the University of Basel and IMDEA Nanoscience in Madrid, and also as professor of mechanics of functional materials at Friedrich Schiller University in Jena before joining the Jagiellonian University as professor of nanomechanics. His research focuses on understanding the physical processes that govern surface phenomena such as friction, wear and adhesion down to the atomic scale. This is made possible by the combination of advanced microscopy techniques such as AFM, SEM and TEM with modelling work performed in collaboration with several groups. This line of research, which is fundamental in nature, has a wide range of applications from solid lubrication to tactile sensors. It can also help understand and mitigate environmental problems such as nucleation and release of nanoparticles from solid surfaces damaged by abrasive or plastic wear.

Ernst Meyer received his Ph.D. at the University of Basel in 1990. The topic of force microscopy on ionic crystals and layered materials was treated in his thesis. After a postdoctoral stay at the IBM Research Center Zurich, he started his present position at the University of Basel. His research is focussed on scanning probe microscopy investigations of physical processes at surfaces. Friction and energy loss mechanisms on the nanometer scale as well as photovoltaics related experiments are topics of interest. Recent highlights are the frictional properties of graphene nanoribbons and the observation of Majorana bound states on Fe wires deposited on a Pb superconductor.