2026-07-072026-07-07http://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/164580A nanoscale variable resistor consisting of a metal nanowire (active element), a dielectric, and a gate, is proposed. By means of the gate voltage, stochastic transitions between different conducting states of the nanowire can be induced, with a switching time as fast as picoseconds. With an appropriate choice of dielectric, the transconductance of the device, which may also be considered an ``electromechanical transistor,'' is shown to significantly exceed the conductance quantum G_0=2e^2/h, a remarkable figure of merit for a nanoscale device.6 pages, 8 figures. This work has been submitted to the IEEE for possible publication. Copyright may be transferred without notice, after which this version will be supersededMesoscale and Nanoscale Physicstext