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Adhesion-assisted nanoscale rotary locomotor in non-liquid environments

Rotation in micro/nanoscale provides extensive applications in mechanical actuation$^{1, 2}$, cargo delivery$^{3, 4}$, and biomolecule manipulation$^{5, 6}$. Light can be used to induce a mechanical rotation remotely, instantly and precisely$^{7-13}$, where liquid throughout serves as a must-have enabler to suspend objects and remove impact of adhesion. Achieving light-driven motion in non-liquid environments faces formidable challenges, since micro-sized objects experience strong adhesion and intend to be stuck to contact surfaces. Adhesion force for a usual micron-sized object could reach a high value$^{14, 15}$ (nN - μN) which is several orders of magnitude higher than both its gravity (~ pN) and typical value of optical force (~ pN) in experiments$^{16}$. Here, in air and vacuum, we show counter-intuitive adhesion-assisted rotary locomotion of a micron-sized metal nanoplate with ~30 nm-thickness, revolving around a microfiber. This locomotor is powered by pulsed light guided into the fiber, as a coordinated consequence of photothermally induced surface acoustic wave on the nanoplate and favorable configuration of plate-fiber geometry. The locomotor crawls stepwise with sub-nanometer locomotion resolution actuated by designed light pulses. Furthermore, we can control the rotation velocity and step resolution by varying the repetition rate and pulse power, respectively. A light-actuated micromirror scanning with 0.001° resolution is then demonstrated based on this rotary locomotor. It unfolds unprecedented application potential for integrated micro-opto-electromechanical systems, outer-space all-optical precision mechanics and controls, laser scanning for miniature lidar systems, etc.