Empowering Technology with the Help of Fullerene Switches
Researchers from the University of Tokyo have made an incredible achievement. They used a single molecule called fullerene as a switch, like a tiny computer transistor. The researchers used an accurate laser beam to decide which way each electron should go.
Fullerene molecules can be used to make switches that are much quicker than what is found in microchips. This could mean the creation of computers with abilities way more advanced than we have now, as well as microscopic imaging devices with an amazing level of detail and clarity.
About seventy years ago, scientists figured out that when molecules are exposed to electrical fields and certain kinds of light they produce electrons. This electron emission created a puzzle since no one knew why it happened. But now we have solved the mystery with a new theory! With this discovery, not only will we be able to create better technology but also strengthen our understanding of the physical world around us.
Hirofumi Yanagisawa and his team figured out what would happen when electrons from fullerene molecules (tiny particles) get exposed to certain types of laser light. They tested it out, and their predictions turned out to be correct.
Yanagisawa said, “We figured out how to steer the direction of an incoming electron using a short burst of red laser light. We can either keep it on its original path or change it according to how we choose. It’s kind of like a train’s switch points, or an electronic transistor, but much faster. This could make computers run better– up to one million times quicker than regular transistors— and also create more complex systems without needing more space.”
The fullerene molecule is kind of like the much more popular carbon nanotube, but instead of being in a tube shape, it’s in a sphere shape. When placed on something like the end of a pin, the fullerenes realign so electrons can move around them predictably. Really fast laser pulses (measured in quadrillionths or even quintillionths of a second!) are pointed at the molecules to make the electrons move away from them. This is the first time lasers have been used to control electrons coming from molecules!
Yanagisawa said that, usually, a Photoelectron Emission Microscope can only get pictures with a resolution of 10 nanometers, which is really small at one-billionth of a meter. But through Fullerene Switch’s help, we are able to get bigger resolutions all the way up to 300 picometers which is even more tiny at three-hundred-trillionths of a meter!
Scientists think that using special molecules, known as fullerene switches, can help make modern technology even faster. But there are some problems, including how to make the laser part tiny enough to fit in a smartphone. So, it might be a while before you see these switches used in phones.
This study was funded by PRESTO and the German Research Foundation. It was called Light-Induced Subnanometric Modulation of a Single-Molecule Electron Source written by Hirofumi Yanagisawa, Markus Bohn, Hirotaka Kitoh-Nishioka, Florian Goschin and Matthias F. Kling in March 2023.
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