Tiny Components Pave the Way for Great Advances in Electronics

Graphene, microsensors, supercapacitors, and other innovations promise to weave tech into the fabric of our lives

Atomic and molecular configurations come in a near-infinite number of possible combinations, but the specific combinations found in any material determine its properties. Graphene, which is an individual, single-atom sheet of the material shown here, is the hardest material known to humanity, but with even more fascinating properties that will revolutionize electronics later this century. (Credit: Max Pixel)

Almost everything we encounter in our modern world relies, in some way, on electronics. Ever since we first discovered how to harness the power of electricity to generate…