Experimental evidence for ice formation at room temperature

The behavior of water under extreme confinement and, in particular, the lubrication properties under such conditions are subjects of long-standing controversy. Using a dedicated, high-resolution friction force microscope, scanning a sharp tungsten tip over a graphite surface, we demonstrate that water nucleating between the tip and the surface due to capillary condensation rapidly transforms into crystalline ice at room temperature. At ultralow scan speeds and modest relative humidities, we observe that the tip exhibits stick-slip motion with a period of 0.38 +/- 0.03 nm, very different from the graphite lattice. We interpret this as the consequence of the repeated sequence of shear-induced fracture and healing of the crystalline condensate. This phenomenon causes a significant increase of the friction force and introduces relaxation time scales of seconds for the rearrangements after shearing.