Chao-Yang Lu, University of Science and Technology of China, China

Chao-Yang Lu was born in December 1982 in Zhejiang, China. He obtained Bachelor’s degree from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) in 2004, and PhD in Physics from the Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge in 2011. Since 2011, he is a Professor of Physics at USTC. His current research interest includes quantum computation, solid-state quantum photonics, multiparticle entanglement, quantum teleportation, superconducting circuits, and atomic arrays. His work on quantum teleportation was selected as by Physics World as “Breakthrough of the Year”. His work on single-photon sources and optical quantum computing was selected by Optical Society of American (OSA) as one of “Optics in 2016”, “Optics in 2017”, “Optics in 2019”, and “Optics in 2021”. His work on photonic quantum computational advantage was selected by APS Physics as “Highlight of the Year”, “A year of quantum highlights” by Physics World, and “World’s top 10 digital innovation technologies” by UNESCO. His work on refuting real-number formulation of quantum mechanics was selected by APS Physics as “Highlight of the Year”. He has been awarded as Fellow of Churchill College (2011), Hong Kong Qiu Shi Outstanding Young Scholars (2014), National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars (2015), Nature’s top ten “science star of China” (2016), OSA Fellow (2017), Fresnel Prize from the European Physical Society (2017), AAAS Newcomb Cleveland Prize (2018), Huangkun Prize from Chinese Physical Society (2019), Nishina Asian Award (2019), Xplorer Prize (2019), IUPAP-ICO Young Scientist Prize in Optics (2019), OSA Adolph Lomb Medal (2020), APS Rolf Landauer and Charles H. Bennett Award in Quantum Computing (2021), World Economic Forum Young Global Leader (2021), James P. Gordon Memorial Speakership (2021), Achievement in Asia Award from OCPA (2022), He Liang He Li Science and Technology Innovation Award (2023), and New Cornerstone Investigator (2023). He is the Chair of Quantum 2020 and 2022 conferences. He is a Divisional Associate Editor of Physical Review Letters, and has served as an editorial board member in international journals such as Applied Physics Reviews, Quantum Science and Technology, ACS Photonics, PhotoniX, Advanced Photonics, Advanced Quantum Technology, Science Bulletin, and iScience.

What is the focus of your research at the moment?
Currently, our group is pushing for a large-scale photonic quantum computer along two directions: one is building increasingly larger boson samplers, hopefully this year reaching over 3000 photons; the other route is trying to make two individual single photons interact strongly enough to implement a deterministic logic, which can be used, for example, in simulating fractional quantum Hall effect. Meanwhile, my research field has expanded from single photons to single atoms, which are trapped and manipulated in optical tweezer. These ultracold atom arrays are a very interesting platform for both foundational studies and emerging quantum technologies.

What do you consider to be the biggest advancement in quantum science to date?
In the broad field of quantum science, I think the invention of transistor has the biggest impact to our society.

In your opinion, what could be the next big breakthrough for the field of quantum science and technology?
I am hoping to see increasingly more unconditional quantum advantage experiments in communication, computation, metrology, and so on.