Electric Motor Made From Single Molecule
Researchers have created the smallest electric motor ever devised. The motor, made from a single molecule just a billionth of a meter across, is reported in Nature Nanotechnology. The minuscule motor could have applications in both nanotechnology and in medicine, where tiny amounts of work can be put to efficient use. Tiny rotors based on single molecules have been shown before, but this is the first that can be individually driven by an electric current.
The butyl methyl sulphide molecule was placed on a clean copper surface, where its single sulphur atom acted as a pivot. The tip of a scanning tunnelling microscope – a tiny pyramid with a point just an atom or two across – was used to funnel electrical charge into the motor, as well as to take images of the molecule as it spun. It spins in both directions, at a rate as high as 120 revolutions per second. But averaged over time, there is a net rotation in one direction. By modifying the molecule slightly, it could be used to generate microwave radiation or to couple into what are known as nano-electromechanical systems, Dr Sykes said.
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