Molecular arrangement and switching device

Details Molecular arrangement and switching device Molecular arrangement and switching device

1999-07-23

2001-06-05

Jackson, Stephen W. (Department: 2836)

Electricity: electrical systems and devices

Safety and protection of systems and devices

With specific circuit breaker or control structure

C361S058000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06243248

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Miniaturization of mechanical devices such as gears, bearings, and even motors has been achieved up to now through silicon micromechanics. However, these devices still have limited lifetimes and their dimensions are in the tens of microns range. Several biological systems use rotary motion, such as flagellar motors (appr. 50 nm in size) and molecular motors (appr. 10 nm in size) based on H
+
adenosine triphosphate synthase. Molecular-based mechanical devices have also been proposed.
OBJECT AND ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the invention to provide a molecular arrangement that comprises a single movable molecule which is positioned within a cage-like molecular arrangement and which is movable by thermal energy. It is a further object of the invention to provide such an arrangement where the movable molecule has a mobilized state and an immobilized state. It is still a further object of the invention that the movable molecule in its immobilized state performs a rotational movement once its energy barrier to that movement is overcome. It is still another object of the invention to provide a switching device based upon said molecular arrangement.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention concerns the real-space realization of a single-molecule rotor surrounded by like molecules that form a supramolecular bearing. Evidence of their high-speed rotation, driven by thermal energy at room temperature, can be obtained by means of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). The calculated energy barriers for rotation support the experimental observations.
The rotation behaviour of the single movable molecule inside the supramolecular bearing can be experimentally visualized and verified. Using a scanning tunneling microscope, the single movable molecule can be observed to exist in one of two spatially defined states laterally separated by 0.26 nanometers. One can be identified as a rotating or mobilized state and the other as an immobilized state. Calculations of the energy barrier for rotation of these two states show that it is below the thermal energy at room temperature for the rotating state, and above it for the immobilized state. The movable molecule can be moved from one state into the other with a manipulator, like an STM tip. Exerting an external influence on the statistically weighted oscillatory motion of the movable molecule will be usable to unify the rotation direction at least to some extent into one direction. This unification can be used either as a molecular motor drive or for a switch which uses the induced different probabilities of the movable molecule to be in one position and not in a second position.


REFERENCES:
patent: 5935866 (1999-08-01), Chagnon et al.

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