Nanohandling (WP1)

Temperature controlled scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) are employed for nanoscale studies of molecular motors fueled with light or electrochemical energy at well-defined surfaces. Working principles of ATP-burning individual biologically relevant nano-engines are investigated using laser tweezer techniques. The time evolution of the complex molecular machines involving a large number of atoms is modeled using advanced simulation methods, notably ab initio molecular dynamics.

Single molecule level STM observation of the organic species tma which bonds in a flat adsorption geometry at a Cu(100) surface.
The image sequence reveals how individual tma act as molecular rotors capturing a Cu atom.

Schematic diagrams of laser-tweezers set-up, experimental lay-out, and protein-construct

Schematic diagram of the optical set-up of the laser-tweezers experiment