Current-Driven Molecular Machine with Rotation-Enhanced Conductance

For more than two millennia, Archimedean screws have been used for water pumping and, more recently, as turbines in hydroelectric power stations[1]. Their helical-blade structure, essential to their function, is also found in chiral molecules and nanostructures, where injected electric current has been proposed to generate torque-mediated rotation[2,3]. Here, we present a torque-driven molecular machine with a rotor actuated by electric current and conductance enhanced by its rotation. Suspending a helicene molecule between two electrode tips, we show that an applied voltage induces cyclic molecular motion with 100% directional preference that can be inverted by the voltage’s polarity. Above a voltage threshold, the current through the rotating molecule is significantly enhanced, and the enhancement onset is tuned by stretching or compressing the helical molecule. Such effects were absent in previous helical molecular junctions, likely due to structural and operational differences[4–6]. Calculations show that molecular rotation by current-induced forces explains both the observed cyclic motion and current enhancement. This mechanism predicts a transition from stepwise to continuous rotation at a threshold voltage, yielding a current increase as rotation allows adopting highly conducting configurations not accessible at rest. Our work introduces a prototype for a new class of torque-driven molecular machines with perfect rotor unidirectionality and significant current modulation.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Access through your institution

Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals

Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription

Learn more

Subscribe to this journal

Receive 51 print issues and online access

$199.00 only $3.90 per issue
Learn more

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

$1.95 $39.95
Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Explore related subjects

Discover the latest articles and news in related subjects.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

  2. Department of Chemistry, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen Ø, Denmark

    Matea Sršen, Stephan Korsgaard Pedersen, Fadhil Suleiman Kamounah & Michael Pittelkow

  3. Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen N, Denmark

    Freja Schou Guttesen & Per Hedegård

  4. Wuhan Institute of Quantum Technology, Wuhan, PR China

  5. Sino-Danish College, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, PR China

    Freja Schou Guttesen & Per Hedegård

  1. Search author on:

  2. Search author on:

  3. Search author on:

  4. Search author on:

  5. Search author on:

  6. Search author on:

  7. Search author on:

  8. Search author on:

  9. Search author on:

  10. Search author on:

  11. Search author on:

  12. Search author on:

  13. Search author on:

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Anil Kumar Singh, Fabian Pauly, Michael Pittelkow, Jing-Tao Lü, Per Hedegård or Oren Tal.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Information (download PDF )

Supplementary Information describing the synthesis and characterization of the dithioacetyl-functionalized [13]helicene. It details the fabrication and measurement of single-molecule Au-helicene-Au junctions and presents experimental analyses of their operation as molecular machines, together with control experiments and a discussion of alternative explanations for the observed effects. It also includes density functional theory calculations of the molecular junction structure and rotational potential landscape, as well as quantum electronic transport calculations. Finally, it presents a microscopic theoretical framework that explains the current-induced torque, molecular rotation, and current enhancement underlying the observed behaviour.

Stochastic jump of the molecular rotor from one potential minimum to the next, driven by fluctuations and current-induced torque. Here, the work done by friction exceeds the work done by the current-induced torque. The molecular junction video is based on density functional theory calculations of snapshot configurations at different rotation angles.

Free rotation of the molecular rotor along the tilted potential, driven by fluctuations and current-induced torque. Here, the work done by the current-induced torque is greater than that done by friction. The molecular junction video is based on density functional theory calculations of snapshot configurations at different rotation angles.

Rights and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Singh, A.K., Martin, L., Sršen, M. et al. Current-Driven Molecular Machine with Rotation-Enhanced Conductance. Nature (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-11312-x

Download citation

  • DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-11312-x

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

Original source Current-Driven Molecular Machine with Rotation-Enhanced Conductance

Back to home