This tiny motor can haul cargo at the microscopic level.

Researchers at MIPT, the Semenov Institute of Chemical Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences (ICP RAS), and the Chuiko Institute of Surface Chemistry of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (ISC NASU) are working on a nanosized dipole photomotor that can carry a load. The microscopic motor leverages lasers to create motion in a new way, possibly paving the way for scientific instruments or biological processes which can deliver nanoscale cargo like a train on a tiny track.

The findings were published in the Journal of Chemical Physics, the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) Nov. 10.

The directed nanomotor works using roughly the same process as Brownian motors, the natural process by which molecules move or transport particles using random Brownian motion.  

“Understanding the underlying mechanisms of the operation of naturally occurring molecular motors enables us not only to replicate them but also to design new highly efficient multifunctional artificial devices that could eventually be applied in nanorobotics,” said Viktor Rozenbaunm, a professor and head of the Department of Theory of Nanostructured Systems at ISC NASU.

The complex process is detailed in the university’s press release. In short, the motor turns random Brownian motion into directed motion. This particular motor is triggered by a laser pulse, which creates an electrostatic interaction between two parts, the particle and the polar substrate.

“These devices could actually be applied wherever rapid nanoparticle transport is required. In chemistry and physics, they could help develop new analytical and synthetic instruments, while in biology and medicine they could be used to deliver drugs to diseased tissues, improve gene therapy strategies, and so on,” said Leonid Trakhtenberg, professor at the Department of Molecular and Chemical Physics at MIPT.