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At least 289 records · Page 16

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DOE OSTI2014

The effect of substrate on thermodynamic and kinetic anisotropies in atomic thin films

Glasses have a wide range of technological applications. The recent discovery of ultrastable glasses that are obtained by depositing the vapor of a glass-forming liquid onto the surface of a cold substrate has sparked renewed interest in the effects of confinements on physicochemical properties of liquids and glasses. Here, we use molecular dynamics simulations to study the effect of substrate on thin films of a model glass-forming liquid, the Kob-Andersen binary Lennard-Jones system, and compute profiles of several thermodynamic and kinetic properties across the film. We observe that the substrate can induce large oscillations in profiles of thermodynamic properties such as density, composition, and stress, and we establish a correlation between the oscillations in total density and the oscillations in normal stress. We also demonstrate that the kinetic properties of an atomic film can be readily tuned by changing the strength of interactions between the substrate and the liquid. Most notably, we show that a weakly attractive substrate can induce the emergence of a highly mobile region in its vicinity. In this highly mobile region, structural relaxation is several times faster than in the bulk, and the exploration of the potential energy landscape is also more efficient. In the subsurface region near a strongly attractive substrate, however, the dynamics is decelerated and the sampling of the potential energy landscape becomes less efficient than the bulk. We explain these two distinct behaviors by establishing a correlation between the oscillations in kinetic properties and the oscillations in lateral stress. Our findings offer interesting opportunities for designing better substrates for the vapor deposition process or developing alternative procedures for situations where vapor deposition is not feasible.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

DOE OSTI2014

Electron mobility calculation for graphene on substrates

By a semiclassical Monte Carlo method, the electron mobility in graphene is calculated for three different substrates: SiO{sub 2}, HfO{sub 2}, and hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN). The calculations account for polar and non-polar surface optical phonon (OP) scatterings induced by the substrates and charged impurity (CI) scattering, in addition to intrinsic phonon scattering in pristine graphene. It is found that HfO{sub 2} is unsuitable as a substrate, because the surface OP scattering of the substrate significantly degrades the electron mobility. The mobility on the SiO{sub 2} and h-BN substrates decreases due to CI scattering. However, the mobility on the h-BN substrate exhibits a high electron mobility of 170 000 cm{sup 2}/(V·s) for electron densities less than 10{sup 12 }cm{sup −2}. Therefore, h-BN should be an appealing substrate for graphene devices, as confirmed experimentally.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

DOE OSTI2014

Crystal orientation mechanism of ZnTe epilayers formed on different orientations of sapphire substrates by molecular beam epitaxy

The electrooptic effect in ZnTe has recently attracted research attention, and various device structures using ZnTe have been explored. For application to practical terahertz wave detector devices based on ZnTe thin films, sapphire substrates are preferred because they enable the optical path alignment to be simplified. ZnTe/sapphire heterostructures were focused upon, and ZnTe epilayers were prepared on highly mismatched sapphire substrates by molecular beam epitaxy. Epitaxial relationships between the ZnTe thin films and the sapphire substrates with their various orientations were investigated using an X-ray diffraction pole figure method. (0001) c-plane, (1-102) r-plane, (1-100) m-plane, and (11-20) a-plane oriented sapphire substrates were used in this study. The epitaxial relationship between ZnTe and c-plane sapphire was found to be (111) ZnTe//(0001) sapphire with an in-plane orientation relationship of [−211] ZnTe//[1-100] sapphire. It was found that the (211)-plane ZnTe layer was grown on the m-plane of the sapphire substrates, and the (100)-plane ZnTe layer was grown on the r-plane sapphire. When the sapphire substrates were inclined from the c-plane towards the m-axis direction, the orientation of the ZnTe thin films was then tilted from the (111)-plane to the (211)-plane. The c-plane of the sapphire substrates governs the formation of the (111) ZnTe domain and the ZnTe epilayer orientation. These crystallographic features were also related to the atom arrangements of ZnTe and sapphire.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

DOE OSTI2015

Control of optical response of a supported cluster on different dielectric substrates

We develop a computational method for optical response of a supported cluster on a dielectric substrate. The substrate is approximated by a dielectric continuum with a frequency-dependent dielectric function. The computational approach is based on our recently developed first-principles simulation method for photoinduced electron dynamics in real-time and real-space. The approach allows us to treat optical response of an adsorbate explicitly taking account of interactions at an interface between an adsorbate and a substrate. We calculate optical absorption spectra of supported Ag{sub n} (n = 2, 54) clusters, changing the dielectric function of a substrate. By analyzing electron dynamics in real-time and real-space, we clarify the mechanisms for variations in absorption spectra, such as peak shifts and intensity changes, relating to various experimental results for optical absorption of supported clusters. Attractive and repulsive interactions between an adsorbate and a substrate result in red and blue shifts, respectively, and the intensity decreases by energy dissipation into a substrate. We demonstrate that optical properties can be controlled by varying the dielectric function of a substrate.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

DOE OSTI2015

Biohydrogen production from rotten orange with immobilized mixed culture: Effect of immobilization media for various composition of substrates

Enriched–immobilized mixed culture was utilized to produce biohydrogen in mesophilic condition under anaerobic condition using rotten orange as substrate. The process was conducted in batch reactors for 100 hours. Microbial cultures from three different sources were subject to a series of enrichment and immobilized in two different types of media, i.e. calcium alginate (CA, 2%) and mixture of alginate and activated carbon (CAC, 1:1). The performance of immobilized culture in each media was tested for biohydrogen production using four different substrate compositions, namely orange meat (OM), orange meat added with peel (OMP), orange meat added with limonene (OML), and mixture of orange meat and peel added with limonene (OMPL). The results show that, with immobilized culture in CA, the variation of substrate composition gave significant effect on the production of biohydrogen. The highest production of biohydrogen was detected for substrate containing only orange meet, i.e. 2.5%, which was about 3-5 times higher than biohydrogen production from other compositions of substrate. The use of immobilized culture in CAC in general has increased the hydrogen production by 2-7 times depending on the composition of substrate, i.e. 5.4%, 4.8%, 5.1%, and 4.4% for OM, OMP, OML, and OMPL, respectively. The addition of activated carbon has eliminated the effect of inhibitory compounds in the substrate. The major soluble metabolites were acetic acid, propionic acid, and butyric acid.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

DOE OSTI2016

Giant Dirac point shift of graphene phototransistors by doped silicon substrate current

Graphene is a promising new material for photodetectors due to its excellent optical properties and high-speed response. However, graphene-based phototransistors have low responsivity due to the weak light absorption of graphene. We have observed a giant Dirac point shift upon white light illumination in graphene-based phototransistors with n-doped Si substrates, but not those with p-doped substrates. The source-drain current and substrate current were investigated with and without illumination for both p-type and n-type Si substrates. The decay time of the drain-source current indicates that the Si substrate, SiO{sub 2} layer, and metal electrode comprise a metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) capacitor due to the presence of defects at the interface between the Si substrate and SiO{sub 2} layer. The difference in the diffusion time of the intrinsic major carriers (electrons) and the photogenerated electron-hole pairs to the depletion layer delays the application of the gate voltage to the graphene channel. Therefore, the giant Dirac point shift is attributed to the n-type Si substrate current. This phenomenon can be exploited to realize high-performance graphene-based phototransistors.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2018

Human N -acetylglucosaminyltransferase II substrate recognition uses a modular architecture that includes a convergent exosite

Asn-linked oligosaccharides are extensively modified during transit through the secretory pathway, first by trimming of the nascent glycan chains and subsequently by initiating and extending multiple oligosaccharide branches from the trimannosyl glycan core. Trimming and branching pathway steps are highly ordered and hierarchal based on the precise substrate specificities of the individual biosynthetic enzymes. A key committed step in the synthesis of complex-type glycans is catalyzed by N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase II (MGAT2), an enzyme that generates the second GlcNAcβ1,2- branch from the trimannosyl glycan core using UDP-GlcNAc as the sugar donor. We determined the structure of human MGAT2 as a Mn 2+ -UDP donor analog complex and as a GlcNAcMan 3 GlcNAc 2 -Asn acceptor complex to reveal the structural basis for substrate recognition and catalysis. The enzyme exhibits a GT-A Rossmann-like fold that employs conserved divalent cation-dependent substrate interactions with the UDP-GlcNAc donor. MGAT2 interactions with the extended glycan acceptor are distinct from other related glycosyltransferases. These interactions are composed of a catalytic subsite that binds the Man-α1,6- monosaccharide acceptor and a distal exosite pocket that binds the GlcNAc-β1,2Man-α1,3Manβ- substrate “recognition arm.” Recognition arm interactions are similar to the enzyme–substrate interactions for Golgi α-mannosidase II, a glycoside hydrolase that acts just before MGAT2 in the Asn-linked glycan biosynthetic pathway. Here, these data suggest that substrate binding by MGAT2 employs both conserved and convergent catalytic subsite modules to provide substrate selectivity and catalysis. More broadly, the MGAT2 active-site architecture demonstrates how glycosyltransferases create complementary modular templates for regiospecific extension of glycan structures in mammalian cells.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2018

Growth Kinetics and Microstructure of PbTe Films Produced on Si and BaF{sub 2} Substrates by a Modified Hot-Wall Method

Lead telluride films have been grown on Si (100) and BaF{sub 2} (100) substrates by a modified hot-wall method using a graphite reaction chamber. According to X-ray diffraction, X-ray microanalysis, and scanning electron microscopy characterization results, the average growth rate of PbTe films having compositions within the homogeneity range of lead telluride increases with increasing lead vapor partial pressure and decreases with increasing tellurium vapor partial pressure, independent of the nature of the substrate. The rate of PbTe film growth has been shown to be maximal in the initial stage of the process and decrease monotonically over time, independent of the nature of the substrate. Independent of the growth time, the average growth rate of the PbTe films on the Si (100) substrates is considerably higher than that on the BaF{sub 2} (100) substrates. Reflection high-energy electron diffraction data indicate that the texture of the PbTe films on Si (100) corresponds to the substrate orientation and that the misorientation angle of the mosaic blocks does not exceed 20°. On the BaF{sub 2} (100) substrates, we observe epitaxial PbTe film growth with the orientation relationship (100), [011] PbTe ║ (100), [011] BaF{sub 2}.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

DOE OSTI2018

Influence of Substrate Misorientation on the Composition and the Structural and Photoluminescence Properties of Epitaxial Layers Grown on GaAs(100)

The influence of the degree of misorientation and treatment of a GaAs substrate on the structural and optical characteristics of homoepitaxial GaAs/GaAs(100) structures grown by metal–organic chemicalvapor deposition is studied. From the data obtained by a series of structural and spectroscopic techniques, it is shown that the degree of deviation of the substrate from the exact orientation towards the [110] direction by an angle of up to 4° brings about stepwise growth of the GaAs film in the initial stage and a further increase in the degree of misorienration towards the [110] direction to 10° results in an increase in the number of structural defects in the epitaxial film. At the same time, the samples of homoepitaxial structures grown by metal–organic chemical-vapor deposition on GaAs(100) substrates misoriented by 4° towards the [110] direction possess the highest photoluminescence efficiency; it is ~15% higher than the corresponding quantity for structures grown on precisely oriented GaAs(100) substrates. Preliminary polishing of the GaAs substrate (removal of an oxide layer) also yields the intensification of photoluminescence emission compared to emission in the case of an unpolished substrate of the same type. For samples grown on substrates misoriented by 4°, such an increase in the photoluminescence efficiency is ~30%.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2024

Direct Synthesis of Layer-Tunable and Transfer-Free Graphene on Device-Compatible Substrates Using Ion Implantation Toward Versatile Applications

Direct synthesis of layer-tunable and transfer-free graphene on technologically important substrates is highly valued for various electronics and device applications. State of the art in the field is currently a two-step process: a high-quality graphene layer synthesis on metal substrate through chemical vapor deposition (CVD) followed by delicate layer transfer onto device-relevant substrates. Here, we report a novel synthesis approach combining ion implantation for a precise graphene layer control and dual-metal smart Janus substrate for a diffusion-limiting graphene formation to directly synthesize large area, high quality, and layer-tunable graphene films on arbitrary substrates without the post-synthesis layer transfer process. Carbon (C) ion implantation was performed on Cu–Ni film deposited on a variety of device-relevant substrates. A well-controlled number of layers of graphene, primarily monolayer and bilayer, is precisely controlled by the equivalent fluence of the implanted C-atoms (1 monolayer ~4 × 10 15 C-atoms/cm 2 ). Upon thermal annealing to promote Cu-Ni alloying, the pre-implanted C-atoms in the Ni layer are pushed toward the Ni/substrate interface by the top Cu layer due to the poor C-solubility in Cu. As a result, the expelled C-atoms precipitate into a graphene structure at the interface facilitated by the Cu-like alloy catalysis. After removing the alloyed Cu-like surface layer, the layer-tunable graphene on the desired substrate is directly realized. The layer-selectivity, high quality, and uniformity of the graphene films are not only confirmed with detailed characterizations using a suite of surface analysis techniques but more importantly are successfully demonstrated by the excellent properties and performance of several devices directly fabricated from these graphene films. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations using the reactive force field (ReaxFF) were performed to elucidate the graphene formation mechanisms in this novel synthesis approach. With the wide use of ion implantation technology in the microelectronics industry, this novel graphene synthesis approach with precise layer-tunability and transfer-free processing has the promise to advance efficient graphene-device manufacturing and expedite their versatile applications in many fields.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2017

Germanium-Assisted Direct Growth of Graphene on Arbitrary Dielectric Substrates for Heating Devices

Direct growth of graphene on dielectric substrates is a prerequsite for the development of graphene-based electronic and optoelectronic devices. However, the current graphene synthesis directly on dielectric substrates always involves metal contamination problem, and the direct production of graphene patterns still remains unattainable and challenging. We propose herein a semiconducting Ge-assisted chemical vapor deposition approach to directly grow monolayer graphene on arbitrary dielectric substrates. By pre-patterning of catalytic Ge layer, the graphene with desired pattern can be achieved with extreme ease. Due to the catalysis of Ge, monolayer graphene is able to form on Ge covered dielectric substrates including SiO 2 /Si, quartz glass and sapphire substrates. Optimization of the process parameters leads to the complete sublimation of catalytic Ge layer during or immediately after monolayer graphene formation, thus resulting in direct deposition of large-area continuous graphene on dielectric substrates. The large-area, highly conductive graphene synthesized on transparent dielectric substrate using the proposed approach has exhibited wide applications, e.g., in defogger and in thermochromic displays, with both devices possessing excellent performances.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2018

Enhanced PKMT-substrate recognition through non active-site interactions

Protein lysine methyltransferases (PKMTs) catalyze the methylation of lysine residues on many different cellular proteins. Despite extensive biochemical and structural studies, focusing on PKMT active site-peptide interactions, little is known regarding how PKMTs recognize globular substrates. To examine whether these enzymes recognize protein substrates through interactions that take place outside of the active site, we have measured SETD6 and SETD7 activity with both protein and peptide RelA substrate. We have utilized the MTase-Glo™ methyltransferase assay to measure the activity of SETD6 and SETD7 with the different RelA substrates and calculated the Michaelis-Menten (MM) parameters. We found an up to ∼12-fold increase in K{sub M} of the PKMTs activity with RelA peptide relative to the respective full-length protein, emphasizing the significantly higher PKMT-protein interaction affinity. Examination of SETD6 and SETD7 activity toward the same RelA substrates highlight the similarity in substrate recognition for both PKMTs. Our results show that the interaction affinity of SETD6 and SETD7 with RelA is enhanced through interactions that occur outside of the active site leading to higher catalytic efficiency and specificity. These interactions can significantly vary depending on the PKMT and the specific methylation site on RelA. Overall, our results underline that PKMTs can recognize their substrates through docking interactions that occur out of the active site-peptide region for enhancing their activity and specificity in the cellular environment.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2018

Identification of biologically active δ-lactone eicosanoids as paraoxonase substrates

Highlights: • Native substrates for the PON family of esterases are uncertain. • PON3 efficiently hydrolyzed two bioactive eicosanoid δ-lactones. • PONs were the predominant enzymes contributing to hydrolysis of the δ-lactones in mouse and human liver lysates. • Endogenous bioactive polyunsaturated fatty acid lactones may be a class of native PON substrates. The mammalian paraoxonases (PONs 1, 2 and 3) are a family of esterases that are highly conserved within and between species. They exhibit antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. However, their physiological function(s) and native substrates are uncertain. Previous structure-activity relationship studies demonstrate that PONs have a high specificity for lipophilic lactones, suggesting that such compounds may be representative of native substrates. This report describes the ability of PONs to hydrolyze two bioactive δ-lactones derived from arachidonic acid, 5,6-dihydroxy-eicosatrienoic acid lactone (5,6-DHTL) and cyclo-epoxycyclopentenone (cyclo-EC). Both lactones were very efficiently hydrolyzed by purified PON3. PON1 efficiently hydrolyzed 5,6-DHTL, but with a specific activity about 15-fold lower than PON3. 5,6-DHTL was a poor substrate for PON2. Cyclo-EC was a poor substrate for PON1 and not hydrolyzed by PON2. Studies with the PON inhibitor EDTA and a serine esterase inhibitor indicated that the PONs are the main contributors to hydrolysis of the lactones in human and mouse liver homogenates. Studies with homogenates from PON3 knockout mouse livers indicated that >80% of the 5,6-DHTL and cyclo-EC lactonase activities were attributed to PON3. The findings provide further insight into the structural requirements for PONs substrates and support the hypothesis that PONs, particularly PON1 and PON3, evolved to hydrolyze and regulate a class of lactone lipid mediators derived from polyunsaturated fatty acids.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2017

Building metallic glass structures on crystalline metal substrates by laser-foil-printing additive manufacturing

In laser-foil-printing additive manufacturing, 3D metallic glass structures can be built by laser welding of amorphous foils, layer by layer, upon a crystalline metal substrate. Here, in this paper, weldability studies for laser welding of Zr 52.5 Ti 5 Al 10 Ni 14.6 Cu 17.9 amorphous foils onto a Ti-6Al-4V (Ti 6-4) or Zr 702 substrate are conducted. After laser welding, the weldments are analyzed using X-ray diffractometer, optical microscope, scanning electron microscope equipped with energy dispersive spectroscopy and micro-hardness tester. The results show that Zr 702 is a suitable substrate for Zr-based metallic glass structure since crack-free weld joints can be obtained owing to the formation of ductile α-Zr, while Ti 6-4 is not an appropriate substrate since it has high cracking susceptibility due to the formation of a large amount of hard and brittle intermetallics near the foil-substrate interface. It was found that the mixing between melted substrate and foil is not uniform but exhibits a distinct “swirl” pattern. The swirl structure is more pronounced in Ti 6-4 than in Zr 702 substrate which may contribute to its high cracking susceptibility. The aforementioned mixing leads to partial crystallization of the first amorphous layer; however, fully amorphous is achieved in the additional welding layers.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2017

Evidence from FTIR Difference Spectroscopy That a Substrate H 2 O Molecule for O 2 Formation in Photosystem II Is Provided by the Ca Ion of the Catalytic Mn 4 CaO 5 Cluster

The O 2 -producing Mn 4 CaO 5 catalyst in photosystem II oxidizes two water molecules (substrate) to produce one O 2 molecule. Considerable evidence supports the identification of one of the two substrate waters as the Mn 4 CaO 5 cluster’s oxo bridge known as O 5 . The identity of the second substrate water molecule is less clear. In one set of models, the second substrate is the Mn-bound water molecule known as W2. In another set of models, the second substrate is the Ca 2+ -bound water molecule known as W3. In all of these models, a deprotonated form of the second substrate moves to a position next to O5 during the catalytic step immediately prior to O–O bond formation. Here, FTIR difference spectroscopy was employed to identify the vibrational modes of hydrogen-bonded water molecules that are altered by the substitution of Sr 2+ for Ca 2+ . Our data show that the substitution substantially altered the vibrational modes of only a single water molecule: the water molecule whose D-O–D bending mode is eliminated during the catalytic step immediately prior to O–O bond formation. These data are most consistent with the identification of the Ca 2+ -bound W3 as the second substrate involved in O–O bond formation.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

DOE OSTI2020

Sequence specificity analysis of the SETD2 protein lysine methyltransferase and discovery of a SETD2 super-substrate

SETD2 catalyzes methylation at lysine 36 of histone H3 and it has many disease connections. We investigated the substrate sequence specificity of SETD2 and identified nine additional peptide and one protein (FBN1) substrates. Our data showed that SETD2 strongly prefers amino acids different from those in the H3K36 sequence at several positions of its specificity profile. Based on this, we designed an optimized super-substrate containing four amino acid exchanges and show by quantitative methylation assays with SETD2 that the super-substrate peptide is methylated about 290-fold more efficiently than the H3K36 peptide. Protein methylation studies confirmed very strong SETD2 methylation of the super-substrate in vitro and in cells. We solved the structure of SETD2 with bound super-substrate peptide containing a target lysine to methionine mutation, which revealed better interactions involving three of the substituted residues. Our data illustrate that substrate sequence design can strongly increase the activity of protein lysine methyltransferases.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2016

MPACVD growth of single crystalline diamond substrates with PCD rimless and expanding surfaces

Single crystal diamond (SCD) growth was performed in optimized pocket substrate holders at a high pressure (240 Torr) and a high power density (∼1000 W/cm3). In an effort to overcome the challenges of growing large area SCD substrates without a corresponding polycrystalline diamond (PCD) rim, a growth recipe using these pocket holders was developed. This growth recipe controls the substrate temperature (Ts) and the incident microwave power (Pinc) in a prescribed function of growth time. Through this process, the feasibility to enlarge the SCD substrate in situ, i.e., during the growth itself is shown. By allowing the temperature to increase from ∼980 °C to 1040 °C, then reducing the temperature, and then allowing it to drift up again, the deposition process alternates between the fast growth of the different crystal directions (i.e., 〈110〉, 〈111〉, and 〈100〉) and a slow growth to smoothen the top surface. This leads to an increased lateral SCD growth. The slow growth of the crystal faces in turn leads to a smooth and enlarged top surface. Certain strategies such as the termination of the growth process at the appropriate time are critical in obtaining flat and smooth SCD surfaces without the formation of any PCD rim. The SCD substrates grown via this method have been analyzed by optical and scanning electron microscopies. The lateral SCD surface area increased between 1.7 and 2 times greater than the initial seed surface area during one continuous run. The deposited SCDs have high growth rates of ∼30 μm/h resulting in smooth, flat and rimless substrates, hence indicating the improvement in the quality and morphology of the deposited substrates.

Nad, Shreya↗

DOE OSTI2019

Mechanisms for bacterial gliding motility on soft substrates

The motility mechanism of certain prokaryotes has long been a mystery, since their motion, known as gliding, involves no external appendages. The physical principles behind gliding still remain poorly understood. Using myxobacteria as an example of such organisms, we identify here the physical principles behind gliding motility and develop a theoretical model that predicts a 2-regime behavior of the gliding speed as a function of the substrate stiffness. Our theory describes the elasto-capillary–hydrodynamic interactions between the membrane of the bacteria, the slime it secretes, and the soft substrate underneath. Defining gliding as the horizontal translation under zero net force, we find the 2-regime behavior is due to 2 distinct mechanisms of motility thrust. On mildly soft substrates, the thrust arises from bacterial shape deformations creating a flow of slime that exerts a pressure along the bacterial length. This pressure in conjunction with the bacterial shape provides the necessary thrust for propulsion. On very soft substrates, however, we show that capillary effects must be considered that lead to the formation of a ridge at the slime–substrate–air interface, thereby creating a thrust in the form of a localized pressure gradient at the bacterial leading edge. To test our theory, we perform experiments with isolated cells on agar substrates of varying stiffness and find the measured gliding speeds in good agreement with the predictions from our elasto-capillary–hydrodynamic model. Finally, the mechanisms reported here serve as an important step toward an accurate theory of friction and substrate-mediated interactions between bacteria proliferating in soft media.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗