Single-Molecule Optomechanical Cycle

Hugel, Thorsten; Holland, Nolan B.; Cattani, Anna; Moröder, Luis; Seitz, Markus; Gaub, Hermann E.

doi:10.1126/science.1069856

Cited by 798 publications

(696 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…The use of these photoswitchable molecules thereby offers an approach for direct conversion of light into mechanical energy 11. Moreover, light‐responsive liposomes appear to be an attractive setup for a drug delivery system.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Area Increase and Budding in Giant Vesicles Triggered by Light: Behind the Scene

et al. 2018

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Biomembranes are constantly remodeled and in cells, these processes are controlled and modulated by an assortment of membrane proteins. Here, it is shown that such remodeling can also be induced by photoresponsive molecules. The morphological control of giant vesicles in the presence of a water‐soluble ortho‐tetrafluoroazobenzene photoswitch (F‐azo) is demonstrated and it is shown that the shape transformations are based on an increase in membrane area and generation of spontaneous curvature. The vesicles exhibit budding and the buds can be retracted by using light of a different wavelength. In the presence of F‐azo, the membrane area can increase by more than 5% as assessed from vesicle electrodeformation. To elucidate the underlying molecular mechanism and the partitioning of F‐azo in the membrane, molecular dynamics simulations are employed. Comparison with theoretically calculated shapes reveals that the budded shapes are governed by curvature elasticity, that the spontaneous curvature can be decomposed into a local and a nonlocal contribution, and that the local spontaneous curvature is about 1/(2.5 µm). The results show that exo‐ and endocytotic events can be controlled by light and that these photoinduced processes provide an attractive method to change membrane area and morphology.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Area Increase and Budding in Giant Vesicles Triggered by Light: Behind the Scene

et al. 2018

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“…The photoisomerization of azobenzene (Figure 1 a) has been extensively studied in the gas phase, in solution, in polymer matrices, in liquid crystals, in thin films,1, 5 on nanoparticle surfaces,6, 7 and, more recently, in crystalline porous materials 8…”

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confidence: 99%

Reversible Photoswitching and Isomer‐Dependent Diffusion of Single Azobenzene Tetramers on a Metal Surface

2018

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Azobenzene is a prototypical molecular switch that can be reversibly photoisomerized between the nearly planar and apolar trans form, and the distorted, polar cis form. Most studies related to azobenzene derivatives have focused on planar adsorbed molecules. We present herein the study of a three‐dimensional shape‐persistent molecular architecture consisting of four tetrahedrally arranged azobenzene units that is adsorbed on a Ag(111) surface. While the azobenzenes of the tripod in contact with the surface lost their switching ability, different isomers of the upright standing arm of the tetramer were obtained reversibly and efficiently by illumination at different wavelengths, revealing time constants of only a few minutes. Diffusion on the surface was dependent on the isomeric state—trans or cis—of the upright oriented azobenzene group. Hence, molecular mobility can be modulated by its isomeric state, which suggests that molecular growth processes could be controlled by external stimuli.

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“…The study of optical excitations in systems at nanoscale size has been accentuated by recent achievements in nanotechnology and the potential growth of the field [1,2,3]. On the theory side, time-dependent density functional theory in the adiabatic, local approximation (TDLDA) has been used to study a wide class of nanosystems ranging from organic molecules to semiconducting and metallic clusters (see e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

First-principles GW–BSE excitations in organic molecules

Tiago

Chelikowsky

2005

Solid State Communications

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We present a first-principles method for the calculation of optical excitations in nanosystems.The method is based on solving the Bethe-Salpeter equation (BSE) for neutral excitations. The electron self-energy is evaluated within the GW approximation, with dynamical screening effects described within time-dependent density-functional theory in the adiabatic, local approximation.This method is applied to two systems: the benzene molecule, C 6 H 6 , and azobenzene, C 12 H 10 N 2 .We give a description of the photoisomerization process of azobenzene after an n − π ⋆ excitation, which is consistent with multi-configuration calculations.

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Single-Molecule Optomechanical Cycle

Cited by 798 publications

References 42 publications

Area Increase and Budding in Giant Vesicles Triggered by Light: Behind the Scene

Area Increase and Budding in Giant Vesicles Triggered by Light: Behind the Scene

Reversible Photoswitching and Isomer‐Dependent Diffusion of Single Azobenzene Tetramers on a Metal Surface

First-principles GW–BSE excitations in organic molecules

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