Single-molecule motor sits on a single-atom ball bearing

December 31, 2012

The base of the device holds a ruthenium atom, and the five-armed device can rotate on top of it (credit: U. G. E. Perera et al./Nature Nanotechnology)



The ruthenium atom acts like a ball bearing, allowing the molecule sitting atop it to rotate, spinning like a windmill tilted on to its back, with its blades oriented horizontally.

To actually get it to rotate, a scanning-tunneling microscope was used to inject electrons into the system. The added charges allowed the rings to overcome interactions with the base, and rotate. The authors could also control the direction of rotation.