One-way rotation of a molecule-rotor driven by a shot noise.
The shot noise of a tunneling current passing through a molecule-motor can sustain a one-way rotation when populating the molecular excited states by tunneling inelastic excitations. We demonstrate that a ratchet-like ground state rotation potential energy curve is not necessary for the rotation to occur. A relative shift in energy difference between the maxima of this ground state and the minima of the excited states is the necessary condition to get to a unidirectional rotation. The rotor speed of rotation and its rotation direction are both controlled by this shift, indicating the necessity of a careful design of both the ground and excited states of the next generation of molecule-motors to be able to generate a motive power at the nanoscale.
Nanosciences Group & MANA Satellite, CEMES/CNRS, 29 rue Jeanne Marvig, 31055 Toulouse, France. jorge.echeverria-lopez@cemes.fr.
Jorge
J
Echeverria
Serge
S
Monturet
Christian
C
Joachim