Contact

lukas.hoermann@warwick.ac.uk

Marie Curie Research Fellow

I am interested in the study of friction at the atomic scale. Friction impacts all mechanical devices, leading to energy dissipation and wear. These problems can alleviated by superlubricating interfaces with extremely reduced friction. The design of such interfaces requires a fundamental understanding of mechanical properties and energy dissipation mechanisms at the nanoscale. My research centres on exploring the energy dissipation mechanisms, that is the conversion of mechanical energy into other forms of energy such as electronic or photonic excitations, during interfacial sliding. This requires explicit (non-equilibrium) molecular dynamics (MD) simulations that account for electronic and phononic friction to ascertain the dynamic friction coefficient linked to interfacial sliding. Such MD simulations demand highly efficient methodologies to ascertain energies and forces, encompassing dissipative forces stemming from electronic and phononic friction. To fulfil this objective, I leverage machine-learning interatomic potentials (MLIP) that are trained via electronic structure computations.

Image depicting electronic and mechanical properties of surfaces; (a) Molecule-molecule and molecule-substrate interactions, interfacial charge transfer, and the resulting interface dipole; (b) Electronic and phononic excitations resulting from interfacial sliding driven by a lateral force.

Affiliations

	Title	Description
2023 - Ongoing	Marie Curie Research Fellow	Departments of Chemistry and Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
2022 - 2023	Postdoctoral Researcher	Institute of Solid State Physics, Graz University of Technology, Graz, Austria
2018 - 2022	Research Assistant	Institute of Solid State Physics, Graz University of Technology, Graz, Austria
2014 - 2018	Teaching Assistant	Institute of Solid State Physics, Graz University of Technology, Graz, Austria

Education

	Description
2018 - 2022	PhD in Technical Sciences Institution: Graz University of Technology, Graz, Austria Title: Structure search for organic/inorganic interfaces using coarse grained modelling and machine learning Supervisor: Prof. Oliver T. Hofmann
2011 - 2018	MSc in Technical Sciences Institution: Graz University of Technology, Graz, Austria Title: Overcoming the Configurational Explosion for Surface Structure Search by Coarse Grained Modeling and Bayesian Learning Supervisor: Prof. Oliver T. Hofmann

List of Publications (16 Publications): Google Scholar

Number of Invited Talks: 6

Click here for an up-to-date CV including a list of presentations (updated 18.09.2024)