Science@Berkeley Lab nameplate Berkeley Lab logo May 13, 2005 A
V6 Engine for the Nano-Age  The world of the very small is about
to receive a very powerful engine. Berkeley Lab scientists have
created the world's smallest electric motor that may someday
power nanoscale devices that walk, crawl, swim, and fly.  Attach
nanosized legs or wings to this engine, and tomorrow's nanobots
could be as fast and nimble as a housefly. (Courtesy Zettl
Research Group)  Although it is too early too determine what the
motor will propel — perhaps probes that deliver disease-fighting
drugs inside the body or winging nanobots that sniff out
explosives — it packs a big kick in its tiny frame. The motor
measures only 200 nanometers long (a nanometer is one-billionth
of a meter), but its power density is 100 million times greater
than that of a 225-horsepower V6 engine. It draws its enormous
power from surface tension, the same cohesive force between
liquid molecules that allows bubbles to form and insects to walk
on water.  "Surfa