The increasing miniaturisation in electronics will result in components which consist of only a few molecules, or even just one molecule. Tiny wires are required to connect these to an electrical circuit at the nano level. An international research team from Kiel University (CAU) and the Donostia International Physics Center in San Sebastián, Spain, has developed a molecule integrating a wire with a diameter of only a single atom. The scientists discovered that the current can be regulated via this molecular wire. It works like a nano power switch, and makes the use of molecular wires in electronic components at the nano scale feasible. The research team’s findings appeared in the scientific journal Physical Review Letters.