Viscous AC current-driven nanomotors

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Nazarov, Vladimir U., Todorov, Tchavdar N., Gross, E. K. U.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Nazarov, Vladimir U.
Todorov, Tchavdar N.
Gross, E. K. U.
author_facet Nazarov, Vladimir U.
Todorov, Tchavdar N.
Gross, E. K. U.
contents The recent discovery that electrons in nano-scale conductors can act like a highly viscous liquid has triggered a surge of research activities investigating consequences of this surprising fact. Here we demonstrate that the electronic viscosity has an enormous influence on the operation of a prototypical AC-current-driven nano-motor. The design of this prototype consists of a diatomic molecule immersed in an otherwise homogeneous electron liquid which carries an AC current. The motion of the diatomic is determined by a subtle balance between the current-induced forces and electronic friction. By ab-initio time-dependent density-functional simulations we demonstrate that the diatomic performs a continuous rotation provided the amplitude and frequency of the imposed AC current lie within certain islands of stability. Outside these islands the nuclear motion is either chaotic or comes to a stand-still. The proposed design of the nano-motor is the conceptually simplest realization of the idea of an molecular waterwheel sandwiched between conducting leads
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2510_24291
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Viscous AC current-driven nanomotors
Nazarov, Vladimir U.
Todorov, Tchavdar N.
Gross, E. K. U.
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
The recent discovery that electrons in nano-scale conductors can act like a highly viscous liquid has triggered a surge of research activities investigating consequences of this surprising fact. Here we demonstrate that the electronic viscosity has an enormous influence on the operation of a prototypical AC-current-driven nano-motor. The design of this prototype consists of a diatomic molecule immersed in an otherwise homogeneous electron liquid which carries an AC current. The motion of the diatomic is determined by a subtle balance between the current-induced forces and electronic friction. By ab-initio time-dependent density-functional simulations we demonstrate that the diatomic performs a continuous rotation provided the amplitude and frequency of the imposed AC current lie within certain islands of stability. Outside these islands the nuclear motion is either chaotic or comes to a stand-still. The proposed design of the nano-motor is the conceptually simplest realization of the idea of an molecular waterwheel sandwiched between conducting leads
title Viscous AC current-driven nanomotors
topic Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.24291