Nanoscientists 'reinvent' the wheel

BERLIN, Jan. 23 (UPI) -- German nanoscientists say they have demonstrated how a molecular "wheel" built at the nanoscale level could revolutionize machinery.

Leonhard Grill and colleagues at the Free University of Berlin say they deposited organic molecules that resemble two wheels connected by an axle onto a corrugated copper surface. The extremely sharp tip of a scanning tunneling microscope is brought into contact with a single molecule.

The way the molecule moves depends on how it is aligned to the row of copper atoms on the surface.

In previous experiments molecules have hopped across the surface when pushed by the microscope tip. However, when the molecules aligned properly with respect to the ridges on the copper surface, one of the wheels rotates by 120 degrees.

The nanoscientists say by understanding and controlling how nano-sized vehicles move across atomic terrains, they might be able to design a new generation of molecular machines.

The study appears in the current issue of the journal Nature Nanotechnology.