Temperature Dependence of Atomic-Scale Stick-Slip Friction

We report experiments of atomic stick-slip friction on graphite as an explicit function of surface temperature between 100 and 300 K under ultrahigh vacuum conditions. A statistical analysis of the individual stick-slip events as a function of the velocity reveals an agreement with the thermally activated Prandtl-Tomlinson model at all temperatures. Taking into account an explicit temperature-dependence of the attempt frequency all data points collapse onto one single master curve.