Smallest electric motor
- Who
- Department of Chemistry Tufts University
- What
- 1 nanometre(s)
- Where
- United States (Boston,)
- When
- September 2011
The world’s smallest electric motor measures one nanometre across and consists of a single molecule of butyl methyl sulphide on a copper surface. The molecule spins under the influence of electric charge introduced by the tip of a scanning tunnelling microscope. This work was achieved by scientists at the Department of Chemistry, Tufts University, Massachusetts, USA, and announced in September 2011.