On March 23, the Tsinghua News Network reported that friction, a pervasive mechanism of energy dissipation in both mechanical and electronic devices, stems from irreversible mechanical processes at moving interfaces, as well as the excitation and dissipation of phonons and electrons. This poses a significant challenge to the development of devices with low energy consumption and extended lifespans. While self-superlubricity technology can reduce phonon friction to a minimum by leveraging incommensurate van der Waals interfaces, the inherent "electron friction" remains a barrier to achieving ultimate energy efficiency.

Recently, the research teams led by Zheng Quanshui and Xu Zhiping from Tsinghua University have developed a reconfigurable device based on self-superlubricity interfaces. By modulating the interface coupling mechanism through mechanical and electrical means, they have, for the first time, successfully separated and independently controlled electron friction and phonon friction in experimental settings. This breakthrough has led to the creation of a sliding interface characterized by extremely low dissipation and an ultra-long operational lifetime. This achievement opens up new avenues for the development of high-efficiency, long-lasting microsystem technologies.