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Updated: May 29, 2026

Light-driven Molecular Motors on Surfaces for Single Molecular Imaging
Published on: March 13, 2019
Two-state Brownian motor driven by synchronously fluctuating unbiased forces
V M Rozenbaum1, Yu A Makhnovskii, S-Y Sheu
1Institute of Atomic and Molecular Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei 106, Taiwan. vik-roz@mail.ru
Abstract:
As a model of the Brownian motor, we consider a particle moving unidirectionally under the action of two synchronously fluctuating unbiased forces, transverse and longitudinal with respect to the particle track. The former force induces track-normal transitions of the particle between the attached and detached states (with and without a periodic potential, respectively), whereas the latter drives track-parallel motion in either state. Analytical expressions of the current and efficiency are derived for different regimes, with due account of the delayed response of the system to force fluctuations. For a sawtooth potential in the attached state, we reveal several motion regimes affording the maximum current or the maximum efficiency. A special emphasis is placed on the possibility of current reversal. As shown, the interplay between two phase-shifted harmonically varied forces as well as inherent and externally induced asymmetry can lead to the emergence of multiple current reversals, thus enabling the flexible controllability of the motion direction.
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