From computer chips to image sensors in cameras, today’s technology is overwhelmingly based on a semiconductor called silicon. This technology has been shrinking for decades—think of early room-sized computers compared to today’s desktops—but physical limitations will soon prevent further improvement.

That’s why scientists and engineers are preparing for a new generation of technology—one based on quantum mechanics.

The electrons in so-called “quantum materials” behave differently than those in silicon, enabling more complex behaviors, like magnetism and superconductivity, that are useful for future quantum technologies.