Researchers from Tel Aviv University (TAU) have, for the first time, enabled the application of the scientific phenomenon of superlubricity in electronic components. The research team successfully harnessed frictionless sliding to significantly enhance the performance of memory components in computers and other electronic devices.

The study was led by Dr. Youngki Yeo, Yoav Sharaby, Dr. Nirmal Roy, and Noam Raab, all members of the Quantum Layered Matter Group headed by Professor Moshe Ben Shalom at TAU’s Raymond & Beverly Sackler School of Physics & Astronomy. The research was published on February 5, 2025, in the journal Nature.

Friction is a force that prevents free sliding between surfaces. On one hand, it is essential — for example, it keeps us from slipping in the shower — but on the other hand, it causes wear and energy loss. In the human body, evolution has developed advanced lubricants for joints, but even they degrade over time (as our knees occasionally remind us).

This issue is particularly critical in the world of computing. Tiny memory components operate at extremely high speeds — millions of cycles per second — and run continuously in computers, artificial intelligence, and advanced medical systems. Any improvement in efficiency, durability, and energy consumption directly translates into major technological advancements.

But nature has found a way to create nearly frictionless surfaces, a phenomenon known as superlubricity. To understand this concept, imagine placing two egg cartons on top of each other: when perfectly aligned, they interlock and resist movement, but when slightly rotated, they slide freely. Similarly, when atomic layers of certain materials are slightly misaligned, their atoms fail to synchronize, and friction between them nearly disappears.

About 20 years ago, scientists discovered that two rotated layers of graphite exhibit almost immeasurable friction, a breakthrough that paved the way for our development of next-generation memory technologies based on superlubricity.

“In our lab,” explains Professor Ben Shalom, “we construct layered materials where even the tiniest atomic displacement causes electrons to move between layers. The result is a memory device just two atoms thick — the thinnest possible.”

In the current study, the team developed a novel method for exploiting frictionless sliding to significantly improve memory performance. Dr. Yeo’s experiment involved combining ultrathin atomic layers of boron and nitrogen, separated by a perforated graphene layer. Within the nano-sized holes (just 100 atoms wide), the boron and nitrogen layers self-align, but between these islands, thanks to the unsynchronized graphene layer, friction disappears. This phenomenon allows atoms within the aligned islands to slide quickly and efficiently, enabling unprecedentedly efficient data read/write operations while consuming significantly less energy.

“Our measurements show that the efficiency of this new memory technology is significantly higher than existing technologies, with zero wear and tear,” Professor Ben Shalom says. “Beyond this, the new memory arrays reveal an intriguing effect: when the tiny islands are close to one another, atomic motion in one island influences neighboring islands. In other words, the system can self-organize into coupled memory states, a phenomenon that could lead to groundbreaking advancements in computing, including artificial intelligence and neuromorphic architectures (computing that mimics brain function).”

The research team is developing this technology through SlideTro LTD, a company founded on these discoveries, and in collaboration with Ramot, TAU’s technology transfer company. It believes that, in the near future, this innovation will enable the development of ultrafast, reliable, and highly durable memory arrays. Their future research aims to explore new computational possibilities through mechanical coupling between memory bits, an interaction that was previously impossible.

The research is funded by the European Research Council (ERC) and the Israel Science Foundation (ISF).