Letter abstract
Nature Materials 8, 576 - 579 (2009)
Published online: 14 June 2009 | doi:10.1038/nmat2467
Subject Categories: Surface and thin films | Computation, modelling and theory
Step-by-step rotation of a molecule-gear mounted on an atomic-scale axis
C. Manzano1, W.-H. Soe1, H. S. Wong1, F. Ample2, A. Gourdon2, N. Chandrasekhar1 & C. Joachim1,2
Gears are microfabricated down to diameters of a few micrometres. Natural macromolecular motors, of tens of nanometres in diameter, also show gear effects1. At a smaller scale, the random rotation of a single-molecule rotor encaged in a molecular stator has been observed2, demonstrating that a single molecule can be rotated with the tip of a scanning tunnelling microscope3, 4 (STM). A self-assembled rack-and-pinion molecular machine where the STM tip apex is the rotation axis of the pinion was also tested5. Here, we present the mechanics of an intentionally constructed molecule-gear on a Au(111) surface, mounting and centring one hexa-t-butyl-pyrimidopentaphenylbenzene molecule on one atom axis. The combination of molecular design, molecular manipulation and surface atomic structure selection leads to the construction of a fundamental component of a planar single-molecule mechanical machine. The rotation of our molecule-gear is step-by-step and totally under control, demonstrating nine stable stations in both directions.
- Institute of Materials Research and Engineering, 3 Research Link, 117602, Singapore
- CEMES, CNRS, 29 rue J. Marvig, 31055 Toulouse Cedex, France
Correspondence to: C. Manzano1 e-mail: garciac@imre.a-star.edu.sg
Correspondence to: W.-H. Soe1 e-mail: wh-soe@imre.a-star.edu.sg
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