Nano-electronic turbine invented

    Designers from nanotech designed a model of a nanoelectronic turbine that rotates from a passing current and can move individual atoms.

    A nanoturbine has a primitive shape: two nanotubes connected to the ends with contacts, and between them another carbon nanotube 10 nm long and 1 nm in diameter. If there is a potential difference between the contacts, the electron flow rushes from one contact to another, and a kind of rotor begins to rotate under the influence of electromagnetic forces, which are stronger than interatomic forces (so far only in theory). In its design, it is the simplest turbine of all that have been invented before.



    A similar motor can be used for perfectly precise movement of individual atoms from one contact to another. Thus, it is possible to create complex molecular structures under computer control. Moreover, individual atoms can be represented as bits of data, and then such nanoturbines can even play the role of transistors or storage devices in electronic devices.

    So far, the prototype's performance has been confirmed only by computer modeling, which was carried out by scientists from the University of Lancaster (UK). A computer model shows that electromagnetic forces are indeed capable of breaking the interatomic bonds between the walls of the rotor and external nanotubes. There are already enthusiasts who are ready to take up the creation of a physical model of a nanoprinter.

    via New Scientist

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