Hooking up

Researchers have created molecules that spontaneously form sturdy networks on a surface, a step that could bring molecular-scale electronic circuits closer to reality.

LINKED IN. Self-assembling molecules connect to form a pair (top) or a grid (bottom) in these electron microscope images. Nature Nanotechnology

Leonhard Grill of the Free University of Berlin and his colleagues synthesized flat, square molecules with arms extending from all four sides.