Zaijun Chen

Zaijun Chen is a Researcher and Principal Investigator in the Laboratory of Intelligent and Quantum Photonics at the Viterbi School of Engineering, University of Southern California. He holds a PhD in Physics from the Max-Planck Institute of Quantum Optics and Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (2019). His research focuses on optical computing architectures, neuromorphic photonic circuits, and precision sensing. He leads DARPA-funded projects NaPSAC and INSPIRED, developing next-generation AI processors and on-chip quantum sensing technologies. Key awards include the 2023 Optica Foundation Challenge Award and SPIE AI/ML Award. He advises PhD students and postdocs in photonic computing and sensing.

Education: PhD, Physics, Max-Planck Institute of Quantum Optics & LMU Munich (2019); Postdoctoral research at MIT’s Quantum Photonics Group (2021-2022).

Research Interests: Optical neural networks, photonic AI accelerators, integrated photonics, quantum sensing, dual-comb spectroscopy, and neuromorphic engineering.

Notable Publications: Over 30 peer-reviewed articles in Nature Photonics, Science, and top optics journals, focusing on photonic computing and precision metrology.