A single molecule electric motor, butyl methyl sulphide.HEALTH L. TIERNEY, ET AL. AND NATURE NANOTECHNOLOGY
THE DEVICE: Butyl methyl sulphide is kind of like a lop-sided pinwheel, with a sulphur atom as the pin, and two arms—one a larger butyl group and the other a smaller methyl group—that spin around. This nanometer-size motor is bound to a metal surface at the sulphur atom, and powered by electrons from a scanning tunneling microscope (STM).
“We chose this molecule because we wanted it to be relatively easy to understand,” said Charles Sykes, an associate professor of chemistry at Tufts University and the senior researcher on the project.
The microscope, which can observe single molecules, has a sharp metal tip that the researchers used to deliver electrons to the motor from above. At the same time, the scope is watching the molecule spin. ...
