Advances in nanotechnology have produced artificial materials whose individual units are in the nanometer scale in one, two or all three dimensions. These nanomaterials can be designed to yield electrical, optical, magnetic and mechanical properties that are useful in a wide range of applications. In some cases, quantum mechanics is essential in understanding the behavior of these materials.

Based on quantum mechanical concepts such as entanglement and superposition, quantum technology creates and manipulates the quantum state of devices or systems. It opens opportunities in applications ranging from quantum computing and quantum communication to quantum sensing and simulation.

Metamaterials can manipulate waves including light and sound in ways that are not possible with naturally-occurring materials. By varying the shape, size and orientation of the elementary units that are smaller than the wavelength, novel effects such as cloaking, negative refraction and super-imaging can be achieved.