Jul 16, 2010
Efficient nano motor cleverly harnesses light
Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley Labs and the University of California have made a new nanoscale motor that can drive a disc 4000 times bigger (by volume) than itself. It is powered via the so-called “plasmonic effect” and could be used to manipulate ultra-small objects like DNA and for powering nanoelectromechanical machines (NEMS). At merely 100 nm across the motor looks like a tiny windmill, inspiring the researchers to dub it a “light mill”.
Source: LBL via NanotechWeb. Illustration: Crookes light mill from 1873.
Read more about nanoelectromechanical systems on Wikipedia and the journal article “Light-driven nanoscale plasmonic motors” in Nature Nanotechnology.
