A motor cosisting of only 16 atoms: Atomic scale structure of the single 4-atom acetylene-rotor molecule (grey-white spheres) on the chiral (i.e. having handedness) PdGa surface (blue spheres -> Palladium, red spheres -> Gallium).
A motor cosisting of only 16 atoms: Atomic scale structure of the single 4-atom acetylene-rotor molecule (grey-white spheres) on the chiral (i.e. having handedness) PdGa surface (blue spheres -> Palladium, red spheres -> Gallium). A research team from Empa and EPFL has developed a molecular motor which consists of only 16 atoms and rotates reliably in one direction. It could allow energy harvesting at the atomic level. The special feature of the motor is that it moves exactly at the boundary between classical motion and quantum tunneling - and has revealed puzzling phenomena to researchers in the quantum realm. The smallest motor in the world - consisting of just 16 atoms: this was developed by a team of researchers from Empa and EPFL. "This brings us close to the ultimate size limit for molecular motors," explains Oliver Gröning, head of the Functional Surfaces Research Group at Empa.
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