PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Chuan‐Feng Li

Also known as 李传锋, Chuanfeng Li, Li Chuan-Feng

Chuan-Feng Li is a quantum physicist at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) who works on quantum optics and quantum information, and whose coauthored experiments apply reinforcement learning and neural networks to quantum systems. He enrolled at USTC in 1990, earned a physics doctorate there in 1999 under Guang-Can Guo, and became a professor in 2012. His coauthored papers on solid-state quantum memories appeared in Physical Review Letters in 2012 and 2015, and he won the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars in 2013. Machine learning entered his coauthored experiments in 2018 with a reinforcement-learning reconstruction of a photonic qubit state and a neural-network readout of a trapped-ion qubit, followed by deep reinforcement learning for quantum control in 2021 and a neural-network-assisted magnetometer in 2022. A 2021 Nature paper he coauthored reported heralded entanglement between two absorptive quantum memories, and he is a Distinguished Chair Professor at USTC and a concurrent distinguished researcher at Hefei National Laboratory.

Now at
University of Science and Technology of China and Hefei National Laboratory
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Timeline

  1. 1990–1999

    Studies at USTC

    Born in 1973 in Shandong Province, he enters the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) as an undergraduate in 1990. He earns a doctorate in physics there in 1999, supervised by Guang-Can Guo.

  2. 1999–2012

    From lecturer to professor

    He starts as a lecturer in USTC's Department of Physics in 1999 and becomes an associate professor there in 2005. In 2009, he moves to the Department of Optics and Optical Engineering as an associate professor, and he becomes a professor in 2012.

  3. 2011

    Controlling non-Markovian dynamics

    In 2011, he coauthors a Nature Physics paper with Guang-Can Guo and colleagues at the University of Turku and the University of Freiburg. The all-optical experiment drives an open quantum system from the Markovian to the non-Markovian regime and controls the information flow between the system and its environment.

  4. 2012–2015

    Solid-state quantum memories

    In 2012, he coauthors a Physical Review Letters paper with Zong-Quan Zhou, Wei-Bin Lin, Ming Yang and Guang-Can Guo on a solid-state quantum memory for photonic polarization qubits, built on an atomic frequency comb in rare-earth-ion-doped crystals, with up to 0.998 process fidelity. In 2015, a Physical Review Letters paper with Zhou, Guo and colleagues reports quantum storage of three-dimensional orbital-angular-momentum entanglement in a rare-earth-ion-doped crystal, with a memory fidelity of 0.993.

  5. 2012–2014

    Distinguished Young Scholars Fund

    He wins the Wang Daheng Optics Prize in 2012 and, in 2013, the China Youth Science and Technology Award and the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars. In 2014, he is the first-ranked winner of both the Anhui Provincial Natural Science first prize and the Ministry of Education Natural Science first prize.

  6. 2018–2022

    Machine learning in quantum experiments

    In 2018, he coauthors two experiments that put machine learning into quantum hardware: reinforcement learning reconstructs a photonic qubit state with fidelities above 88% within 50 iterations, and neural networks read out a trapped-ion qubit in half the detection time that threshold or maximum-likelihood methods need for 99% fidelity. In 2021, he coauthors a deep reinforcement learning approach to quantum control on a trapped 171Yb+ ion. In 2022, he coauthors a quantum magnetometer built on 171Yb+ atomic sensors and assisted by neural networks.

  7. 2021–2024

    Quantum memories for repeaters

    In 2021, he coauthors a Nature paper with Zong-Quan Zhou, Guang-Can Guo and colleagues that demonstrates heralded entanglement between two absorptive quantum memories, solid-state nodes separated by 3.5 metres. In November 2024, National Science Review publishes 'Integrated Spin-wave Quantum Memory', with Zhou and him as co-corresponding authors.

  8. As of October 2026

    Distinguished Chair Professor at USTC

    He is a Distinguished Chair Professor at USTC, where he has been a professor since 2012, and a concurrent distinguished researcher at Hefei National Laboratory. His research focuses on building a quantum entanglement network and on studying quantum physics with quantum information technology.

Career

  1. Since 1999University of Science and Technology of ChinaLecturer, Associate Professor
  2. NowHefei National LaboratoryDistinguished Researcher

Education

  1. 1999University of Science and Technology of ChinaPhD
  2. From 1990University of Science and Technology of ChinaUndergraduate student

From the biography.

  1. 84% of people shaping AI with recorded undergraduate and doctoral schools changed institutions for their doctorateIncludes Chuan‐Feng Li. 84% of people shaping AI with recorded undergraduate and doctoral schools changed institutions for their doctorate. Across 2,116 people with both an undergraduate degree and a doctorate recorded, we trace which undergraduate schools feed which doctoral programs, how often students stay at the same school, and how paths differ by birth-country region.
  2. 44% of AI career moves go from one university to anotherIncludes University of Science and Technology of China. We estimate how 26,439 AI career moves link universities, companies, labs, nonprofits and government research centers, with decade counts, net flows and the top paths.
  3. 11% of AI doctorate holders from 2010 to 2016 founded or led a company or lab by 10 years after graduationIncludes University of Science and Technology of China. We estimate how often AI doctorate holders founded or led a company or lab by 10 years after graduation, how waiting times compare between founders and top jobs, and which universities trained the most.
  4. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes University of Science and Technology of China. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other university. We compare doctorate and 5+ year employment links, career timing and current workplaces for 187 major-prize and 1,111 best-paper winners.

Colleagues

People named in this biography, and people with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Chuan‐Feng Li yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Chuan-Feng Li | Profile | Fetzer Franklin Fund fetzer-franklin-fund.org. Checked 21 October 2026.
  2. Li Chuan-Feng - Home - University of Science and Technology of China faculty page faculty.ustc.edu.cn. Checked 21 October 2026.
  3. Experimental control of the transition from Markovian to non-Markovian dynamics of open quantum systems | Nature Physics nature.com. Checked 21 October 2026.
  4. Realization of reliable solid-state quantum memory for photonic polarization-qubit (arXiv:1201.4441) arxiv.org. Checked 21 October 2026.
  5. Quantum Storage of Three-Dimensional Orbital-Angular-Momentum Entanglement in a Crystal (arXiv:1412.5243) arxiv.org. Checked 21 October 2026.
  6. Li Chuan-Feng - Awards and Honours - University of Science and Technology of China faculty page faculty.ustc.edu.cn. Checked 21 October 2026.
  7. Reconstruction of a Photonic Qubit State with Reinforcement Learning (arXiv:1808.09241) arxiv.org. Checked 21 October 2026.
  8. Fast and High-Fidelity Readout of Single Trapped-Ion Qubit via Machine Learning Methods (arXiv:1810.07997) arxiv.org. Checked 21 October 2026.
  9. Experimentally Realizing Efficient Quantum Control with Reinforcement Learning (arXiv:2101.09020) arxiv.org. Checked 21 October 2026.
  10. A neural network assisted 171Yb+ quantum magnetometer | npj Quantum Information nature.com. Checked 21 October 2026.
  11. Heralded entanglement distribution between two absorptive quantum memories | Nature nature.com. Checked 21 October 2026.
  12. Integrated spin wave storage advances quantum networks | Space Daily solardaily.com. Checked 21 October 2026.