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research article

Molecular motor crossing the frontier of classical to quantum tunneling motion

Stolz, Samuel
•
Groening, Oliver
•
Prinz, Jan
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June 30, 2020
Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences Of The United States Of America (PNAS)

The reliability by which molecular motor proteins convert undirected energy input into directed motion or transport has inspired the design of innumerable artificial molecular motors. We have realized and investigated an artificial molecular motor applying scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), which consists of a single acetylene (C2H2) rotor anchored to a chiral atomic cluster provided by a PdGa(111) surface that acts as a stator. By breaking spatial inversion symmetry, the stator defines the unique sense of rotation. While thermally activated motion is nondirected, inelastic electron tunneling triggers rotations, where the degree of directionality depends on the magnitude of the STM bias voltage. Below 17 K and 30-mV bias voltage, a constant rotation frequency is observed which bears the fundamental characteristics of quantum tunneling. The concomitantly high directionality, exceeding 97%, implicates the combination of quantum and nonequilibrium processes in this regime, being the hallmark of macroscopic quantum tunneling. The acetylene on PdGa(111) motor therefore pushes molecular machines to their extreme limits, not just in terms of size, but also regarding structural precision, degree of directionality, and cross-over from classical motion to quantum tunneling. This ultrasmall motor thus opens the possibility to investigate in operando effects and origins of energy dissipation during tunneling events, and, ultimately, energy harvesting at the atomic scales.

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Type
research article
DOI
10.1073/pnas.1918654117
Web of Science ID

WOS:000548160900010

Author(s)
Stolz, Samuel
Groening, Oliver
Prinz, Jan
Brune, Harald  
Widmer, Roland
Date Issued

2020-06-30

Publisher

National Academy of Sciences

Published in
Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences Of The United States Of America (PNAS)
Volume

117

Issue

26

Start page

14838

End page

14842

Subjects

Multidisciplinary Sciences

•

Science & Technology - Other Topics

•

molecular motor

•

scanning tunneling microscopy

•

surface science

•

driven

•

adsorption

•

dynamics

•

rotary

•

atoms

Editorial or Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

EPFL

EPFL units
LNS  
Available on Infoscience
July 25, 2020
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/170356
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