A spinning molecule changes the current flowing through it

A molecule suspended between two gold contacts can do more than carry an electric current. In a recent experiment, the current set the molecule turning, and that motion made it easier for more current to pass. The moving part changed the electrical behavior of the junction that powered it.

The study, published in Nature on October 22, 2026, uses a helicene molecule, whose structure coils into a screw-like shape. Researchers found that changing the polarity of the applied voltage reversed the preferred direction of its motion. Above a voltage threshold, the current rose sharply.

The result is a laboratory prototype. Its interest lies in the connection between electrical transport and controlled motion, rather than a finished component ready to put into ordinary electronics.

What the researchers could actually measure

At the Weizmann Institute of Science, the team held a single helical organic molecule between gold electrodes at a temperature near absolute zero. Applying voltage produced a repeating sequence of jumps in the electrical current. Reversing the current reversed that sequence, indicating rotation in the other direction, according to the institute’s account.

That distinction between measurement and interpretation matters. The experiment tracked electrical signals; theoretical calculations helped explain the movement responsible for them. This was not a camera recording a tiny rotor.

Weizmann reports that the current increased by as much as a hundredfold above a threshold. Stretching or compressing the molecule changed where that increase began. The experiment therefore offered a mechanical way to adjust an electrical response.

Why turning opens a better path

The paper’s proposed mechanism links the extra current to configurations the molecule reaches while rotating. Its calculations predict a transition from separate rotational steps to continuous motion. During that motion, the molecule can adopt arrangements that conduct particularly well but are unavailable to it at rest.

Augsburg’s researchers, who contributed quantum-mechanical simulations, describe electrons transferring angular momentum to the helical structure. Their comparison is a wind turbine: a flow produces a turning force. Here the flow is electronic, and the shape of the molecule helps determine the direction.

The Archimedes screw supplies another analogy. The familiar device uses a turning spiral to move water; this experiment uses electrons passing through a spiral molecule to drive movement. It does not demonstrate a miniature water pump.

Augsburg also notes that electrically powered molecular motors existed before this work. The narrower advance is a current-driven motor with reversible directional control while firmly connected to two metal electrodes.

The paper and the participating institutions describe the same collaborative study, not independent replications. Near-absolute-zero operation also leaves a practical question unanswered by this demonstration: whether the behavior can be retained under conditions suitable for useful devices. A large current change in one molecular junction does not establish a corresponding improvement in a computer’s speed or energy use.