Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Molecular machines

Reinventing the wheel

Nature Nanotechnology volume 2, pages 82–84 (2007)Cite this article

The invention of the wheel was one of the most significant events in human history. Now, working out how molecules can roll across an atomic surface may have significant implications for the design and construction of nanomachines.

For a moment, imagine taking away the ubiquitous wheel from our modern day life. We would witness an amazing retrograde spiral back to the Stone Age! Not only would it be a world without bicycles, cars, trains or airplanes, but it would be impossible to construct buildings and bridges. Most archaeologists regard the wheel — which originated in ancient Sumer in Mesopotamia in the fifth millennium BC — as one of the oldest and most important human inventions. The success of the wheel resides in its mechanical operation, a motion that combines rotation and translation. By rolling wheels, heavy objects can be transported from one place to another — literally and physically, the very foundations on which our civilization is built.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Wheels at the nanoscale.
Figure 2: The manner in which the wheel is translated across the copper surface can be determined by measuring the tunnelling current.

References

  1. Grill, L. et al. Nature Nanotech. 2, 95–98 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Gimzewski, J. K. et al. Science 281, 531–533 (1998).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Jimenez-Bueno, G. & Rapenne, G. Tetrahedron Lett. 44, 6261–6263 (2003).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Shirai, Y., Osgood, A. J., Zhao, Y., Kelly, K. F. & Tour, J. M. Nano Lett. 5, 2330–2334 (2005).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Eigler, D. M. & Schweizer, E. K. Nature 344, 524–526 (1990).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Hla, S.-W. J. Vac. Sci. Tech. B 23, 1351–1360 (2005).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Bartels, L., Meyer, G., & Rieder, K.-H. Phys. Rev. Lett. 79, 697–700 (1997).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Chiaravalloti, F. et al. Nature Mater. 6, 30–33 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. and Physics and Astronomy Department, Saw-Wai Hla is at the Nanoscale and Quantum Phenomena Institute, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio 45701, USA. hla@ohio.edu,

    Saw-Wai Hla

Authors
  1. Saw-Wai Hla
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Hla, SW. Reinventing the wheel. Nature Nanotech 2, 82–84 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2007.16

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2007.16

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing