Quantum technology

Quantum technology is an emerging field of physics and engineering, which is about creating practical applications -- such as quantum computing, quantum sensors, quantum cryptography, quantum simulation, quantum metrology and quantum imaging -- based on properties of quantum mechanics, especially quantum entanglement, quantum superposition and quantum tunnelling. Quantum superposition states can be very sensitive to a number of external effects, such as electric, magnetic and gravitational fields; rotation, acceleration and time, and therefore can be used to make very accurate sensors. There are many experimental demonstrations of quantum sensing devices, such as the experiments carried out by the Nobel laureate William D. Phillips on using cold atom interferometer systems to measure gravity and the atomic clock which is used by many national standards agencies around the world to define the second.