Train of Single Molecule-Gears

We -Hyo Soe (1, 2) , Saurabh Srivastava (1) , Christian Joachim (1, 2)

1 CEMES-GNS - Groupe NanoSciences
2 WPI-MANA - International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics

Two molecule-gears, 1.2 nm in diameter with 6 teeth, are mounted each on a single copper ad-atom separated exactly by 1.9 nm on a lead surface using a low temperature scanning tunneling microscope (LT-STM). A functioning train of 2 molecule-gears is constructed completed with a molecule-handle. Not mounted on a Cu ad-atom axle, this ancillary molecule-gear is mechanically engaged with the first molecule-gear of the train to stabilize its step by step rotation. Centered on its Cu ad-atom axle, the rotation of the first gear of the train step by step rotates the second similar to a train of macroscopic gears. From the handle to the first and to this second molecule-gear, the exact positioning of the two Cu ad-atom axles on the lead surface ensures that the molecular teeth to teeth mechanics is fully reversible.

Mots clés: Molecule-gear train; Molecule-machinery; LT-UHV STM; molecule manipulation; Single Atom Axle

Domaines: Physique [physics]

We -Hyo Soe, Saurabh Srivastava, Christian Joachim. Train of Single Molecule-Gears. Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, 2019, 10 (21), pp.6462-6467. ⟨10.1021/acs.jpclett.9b02259⟩. ⟨hal-02901125⟩