PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Philippe Grangier

Philippe Grangier is a quantum optics physicist whose experiments with single photons, quantum cryptography and single atoms support quantum technologies. A former student of the ENS Cachan, they did their doctoral thesis under Alain Aspect, took part in Aspect's 1982 experiment on entangled photons, and worked with Aspect on single-photon emission in 1985. Their work on key distribution with coherent states appeared in Physical Review Letters in 2002 and in Nature in 2003, when they also received a CNRS silver medal. They received the Charles Hard Townes Medal in 2012 and the Ampère prize in 2023, and coordinated the Quantum Flagship's QUCATS action from 2022. Since July 2025, they are Emeritus Research Director at the CNRS.

Now at
CNRS

Timeline

  1. 1982–1985

    Photon experiments with Aspect

    A former student of the ENS Cachan, they do their doctoral thesis under Alain Aspect and take part in Aspect's 1982 experiment on entangled photons. In the early 1980s, their work covers tests of Bell's inequalities and single-photon interference experiments. In 1985, they and Aspect control the emission of single photons and show quantum properties of the light with no classical equivalent.

  2. 2002–2003

    Quantum cryptography with coherent states

    In Physical Review Letters in 2002, they and Frédéric Grosshans propose quantum key distribution based on random distributions of coherent or squeezed states. A Nature paper in 2003, with Grosshans and colleagues, demonstrates the protocol at a net key rate of about 1.7 megabits per second for a loss-free line. Their team's continuous-variable cryptography technology is later commercialized by the company SeQureNet.

  3. 2003

    A CNRS silver medal

    They receive the silver medal of the CNRS in 2003. Their work extends from photon entanglement to quantum telecommunications and cryptography.

  4. 2009

    Rydberg blockade of two atoms

    In Nature Physics in 2009, they co-author with eight colleagues the demonstration of Rydberg blockade between two atoms individually trapped in optical tweezers 4 micrometres apart. The observation is a step toward the deterministic manipulation of entanglement between two or more atoms.

  5. 2012–2013

    Townes Medal and Optica fellowship

    They receive the Charles Hard Townes Medal in 2012 for breakthroughs in fundamental quantum optics. In 2013, they become an Optica Fellow.

  6. 2017–2025

    Coordinating quantum technology programs

    They coordinate SIRTEQ, the Île-de-France network of quantum technology teams, from 2017 to 2021, while directing the quantum optics group of the Laboratoire Charles Fabry. From May 2022, they coordinate QUCATS, the Quantum Flagship's coordination and support action with 11 partners, which is scheduled to run until April 2025. The Quantum Optics group they set up at the Institut d'Optique produces methods with applications in quantum technologies.

  7. 2023

    The Ampère prize

    They receive the 2023 Ampère prize of Électricité de France. They propose and implement new quantum cryptography protocols, and their experiments manipulate individual atoms or photons to perform elementary quantum logic operations.

  8. Since July 2025

    Emeritus research director at CNRS

    They hold the title of Emeritus Research Director at the CNRS from July 2025, after a career of more than forty years in quantum optics. Institut d'Optique and Quantum-Saclay plan a scientific day in their honour at Palaiseau for June 2026.

Career

  1. Since 2025CNRSEmeritus Research Director
  2. 2017–2021SIRTEQCoordinator
  3. 2017–2021Institut d’Optique Graduate SchoolDirector, Quantum Optics Group

Education

  1. École normale supérieure de CachanStudent

From the biography.

  1. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes CNRS. We estimate where the people shaping AI worked when their most-cited papers appeared: the company share was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974, and Google led all organizations in 2020–2024.
  2. Universities keep AI researchers for a median of 6 years, compared with 2 years at frontier labsIncludes CNRS. Across 15,811 dated work stays (6,529 people), median role tenure runs from 6 years at universities to 2 years at frontier labs. We compare all five organization types, starting decades from the 1970s to the 2020s, and the organizations that keep people longest.
  3. People shaping AI work at a median of 3 organizations over a career: 3 for university starters and institute and lab starters, versus 2 for company startersIncludes CNRS. Across 6,853 people shaping AI with a dated work role, we estimate a median of 3 parent organizations over a career (mean 3.6), comparing role groups, starting sectors and starting decades from the 1950s to 2020–2026.
  4. The top 10 organizations employed 22% of people shaping AI in 2025: 51% of company researchers and 21% of university researchersIncludes CNRS. We estimate the share of people shaping AI who worked at the top 10 organizations each year from 1955 to 2025, comparing concentration across companies, universities, and institutes and labs.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Philippe Grangier yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. [DECODE Quantum] A la rencontre de Philippe Grangier, Directeur du groupe d’optique quantique du Laboratoire Charles Fabry frenchweb.fr. Checked 22 October 2026.
  2. Alain Aspect - LAROUSSE larousse.fr. Checked 22 October 2026.
  3. PHILIPPE GRANGIER | ICFO icfo.eu. Checked 22 October 2026.
  4. Continuous variable quantum cryptography using coherent states arxiv.org. Checked 22 October 2026.
  5. Quantum key distribution using gaussian-modulated coherent states | Nature nature.com. Checked 22 October 2026.
  6. Observation of collective excitation of two individual atoms in the Rydberg blockade regime - Institut Polytechnique de Paris researchportal.ip-paris.fr. Checked 22 October 2026.
  7. Philippe Grangier | Optica optica.org. Checked 22 October 2026.
  8. Philippe GRANGIER Lauréat 2023 du prix Ampère | Université Paris-Saclay universite-paris-saclay.fr. Checked 22 October 2026.
  9. QUCATS - Coordination and support action of the Quantum Flagship | Quantum Flagship qt.eu. Checked 22 October 2026.
  10. Scientific Event: “From Single Photons to Continuous Variables: 40 Years of Quantum Optics” | Université Paris-Saclay universite-paris-saclay.fr. Checked 22 October 2026.