Nonlinear response and dynamical transitions in a phase-field crystal model for adsorbed overlayers

The nonlinear response and sliding friction behavior of a phase-field crystal model for driven adsorbed atomic layers is determined numerically. The model describes the layer as a continuous density field coupled to the pinning potential of the substrate and under an external driving force. Dynamical equations which take into account both thermal fluctuations and inertial effects are used for numerical simulations of commensurate and incommensurate layers. At low temperatures, the velocity response of an initially commensurate layer shows hysteresis with dynamical melting and freezing transitions at different critical forces. The main features of the sliding friction behavior are similar to the results obtained previously from molecular dynamics simulations of particle models. However, the dynamical transitions correspond to nucleations of stripes rather than closed domains.