Scientists created a model microscopic system to demonstrate the transmission of torque in the presence of thermal fluctuations, which is crucial for the creation of a nanoscale "clutch."
In vehicles, a clutch carries torque created by the engine to the chassis. This mechanism has been perfected for large vehicles, but creating the same effect on the nanoscale is more complicated, the University of Bristol reported. In these incredible small scales, different physics must be considered and thermal fluctuations play a much more important role in order to dissipate energy. In this new microscopic system, a ring of colloidal particles are localised in optical tweezers and translated onto a circular pathway, allowing for the transfer of a rotational motion to an assembly of identical colloids present in the interior region.
