E-Mail IMAGE: Left to right: Fatih Ersan, Can Ataca, Gracie Chaney, Jaron Kropp, and Daniel Wines, all members of Ataca's research group, discuss their work on 2D materials. These materials are one-atom-thick... view more Credit: Marlayna Demond for UMBC New 2D materials have the potential to transform technologies, with applications from solar cells to smartphones and wearable electronics, explains UMBC's Can Ataca, assistant professor of physics. These materials consist of a single layer of atoms bound together in a crystal structure. In fact, they're so thin that a stack of 10 million of them would only be 1 millimeter thick. And sometimes, Ataca says, less is more. Some 2D materials are more effective and efficient than similar materials that are much thicker.