nano-car
Molecule-car Race
Date:
nano-car
Place :
CEMES
Abstract:
Course de molécule-voitures
Two chemists from the CEMES-CNRS laboratory in Toulouse, Christian Joachim (CNRS) and Gwénaël Rapenne (Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse) just launched in the journal ACS Nano January 2013 [1] the idea of a molecule-car race. Each molecule-car of a competitor will have at its disposal a runway prepared on a small portion of the same gold surface. This surface will be maintained at very low temperature in UHV for at least the duration of the competition. The race itself will not last more than 2 days. On this surface, the path of each runway will be built atom by atom with a few gold atoms around which the molecule-car will have to circulate atom by atom, from the starting to the arrival line. The spacing between two gold atoms of this track is less than 4 nm.
The molecule-cars synthesized from only a few hundred atoms will be propelled via the tunnel electrons passing through the molecule-car [2, 3] or by light [4]. Nano-magnetic effects are also accepted [5]. STM or NC-AFM mechanical manipulation of a molecule-car [6.7] is only allowed to reach the starting line (using manipulation by pushing, pulling or sliding modes [8]). But this should not be the mode of propulsion during the race itself. At once, 4 different molecule-cars can compete at the same time and in parallel. In the case more than 4 candidates will register for this first race, it will be done playoff races determined by lot. Will be declared the winner, the molecule-car passing the first between the two Au atoms of arrival line after starting from 2 Au atoms of the starting line. The two researchers propose an annual competition from the end of 2013 (the time for teams to prepare their molecule-car and to prepare instruments, microscopes and track circuit). This race is expected to accelerate research on nano-molecular vehicles.
The first track is now ready for the molecule-car race. 9 gold atoms were manipulated one by one on an Au(111) surface by the tip of a scanning tunneling microscope to define a starting line, an arrival line and the 5 central Au atoms separated by 3 nm where the molecule-cars must circulate around one by one to win the race. (Track prepared by C. Manzano and W.H. Soe on a surface Au (111) where the characteristicsurface reconstruction is easily recognized (LT-UHV-STM image, A*STAR IMRE, Singapore))..
To register for the molecule-cars race, contact C. Joachim or G. Rapenne which will specify the rules of the competition by April 2013. All interested sponsor can also contact these researchers.
Références :
[1]: C. Joachim and G. Rapenne, ACS Nano, DOI: 10.1021/nn3058246 (2013)
[2]: B. L. Ferringa and coll., Nature, 479, 208–211 (2011)
[3]: F. Moresco and coll., ACS Nano, DOI: 10:1021/nn303708h (2012)
[4]: J. M. Tour and coll., ACS Nano, 6, 592 (2012)
[5]: T. Ono and H. Kohno, J. Magn. Soc. Jap, 31, 305 (2007).
[6]: T.A. Jung and coll., Science, 271, 181 (1996).
[7]: L. Grill and coll., Nature Nanotechnol., 2, 95 (2007).
[8]: X. Bouju et coll., Phys. Rev. B, 55, 16498 (1997).
Two chemists from the CEMES-CNRS laboratory in Toulouse, Christian Joachim (CNRS) and Gwénaël Rapenne (Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse) just launched in the journal ACS Nano January 2013 [1] the idea of a molecule-car race. Each molecule-car of a competitor will have at its disposal a runway prepared on a small portion of the same gold surface. This surface will be maintained at very low temperature in UHV for at least the duration of the competition. The race itself will not last more than 2 days. On this surface, the path of each runway will be built atom by atom with a few gold atoms around which the molecule-car will have to circulate atom by atom, from the starting to the arrival line. The spacing between two gold atoms of this track is less than 4 nm.
The molecule-cars synthesized from only a few hundred atoms will be propelled via the tunnel electrons passing through the molecule-car [2, 3] or by light [4]. Nano-magnetic effects are also accepted [5]. STM or NC-AFM mechanical manipulation of a molecule-car [6.7] is only allowed to reach the starting line (using manipulation by pushing, pulling or sliding modes [8]). But this should not be the mode of propulsion during the race itself. At once, 4 different molecule-cars can compete at the same time and in parallel. In the case more than 4 candidates will register for this first race, it will be done playoff races determined by lot. Will be declared the winner, the molecule-car passing the first between the two Au atoms of arrival line after starting from 2 Au atoms of the starting line. The two researchers propose an annual competition from the end of 2013 (the time for teams to prepare their molecule-car and to prepare instruments, microscopes and track circuit). This race is expected to accelerate research on nano-molecular vehicles.
The first track is now ready for the molecule-car race. 9 gold atoms were manipulated one by one on an Au(111) surface by the tip of a scanning tunneling microscope to define a starting line, an arrival line and the 5 central Au atoms separated by 3 nm where the molecule-cars must circulate around one by one to win the race. (Track prepared by C. Manzano and W.H. Soe on a surface Au (111) where the characteristicsurface reconstruction is easily recognized (LT-UHV-STM image, A*STAR IMRE, Singapore))..
To register for the molecule-cars race, contact C. Joachim or G. Rapenne which will specify the rules of the competition by April 2013. All interested sponsor can also contact these researchers.
Références :
[1]: C. Joachim and G. Rapenne, ACS Nano, DOI: 10.1021/nn3058246 (2013)
[2]: B. L. Ferringa and coll., Nature, 479, 208–211 (2011)
[3]: F. Moresco and coll., ACS Nano, DOI: 10:1021/nn303708h (2012)
[4]: J. M. Tour and coll., ACS Nano, 6, 592 (2012)
[5]: T. Ono and H. Kohno, J. Magn. Soc. Jap, 31, 305 (2007).
[6]: T.A. Jung and coll., Science, 271, 181 (1996).
[7]: L. Grill and coll., Nature Nanotechnol., 2, 95 (2007).
[8]: X. Bouju et coll., Phys. Rev. B, 55, 16498 (1997).
