Atoms and electrons were once as exotic as the word ‘quantum’ is today, and just as hard to relate to the very real world of materials. Yet silicon technology spawned a whole series of materials innovations. There were the functional materials: ultrapure Si, strained Si/SiO2, low k materials, Cu and Al for interconnects, etc. There were passive device materials, such as heat sinks, packaging, and diffusion barriers. New materials were needed for fabrication: lithography optics, photoresists, and metalorganics. New fabrication methods, such as ion implantation, transformed dopant control. The public saw the fruits of this research: solid-state lasers for compact disc players, colorful casings and straps for watches, light-emitting diode and liquid crystal displays, etc. Quantum information processing (QIP) computing will offer a new list of materials.