Prof. Dirk Englund

Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Primary DLC

Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

MIT Room: 36-525

Areas of Interest and Expertise

Quantum Optics
Nanophotonics
Metrology
Scalable Implementations of Emerging Quantum Technologies for Secure Communications
Massively Parallel Computation and Precision Measurements
Semiconductor Quantum Optics, Combining Techniques from Device Physics, Atomic Physics, and Modern Nanofabrication
Silicon Photonic Integrated Circuits for unconditionally Secure Communications and Quantum Simulation
Quantum-Enhanced Sensors for Real-Time Imaging of Neural Activity
Spin-Based Memories in Diamond for Computing and Quantum Repeaters
Spin-Based Solid-State Atomic Clocks
Graphene Photonics-Modulators, Detectors, Hyperspectral Imagers

Research Summary

Professor Englund researches the development of photonic and quantum devices and systems and their use in quantum computation, communications, and sensing. Quantum-based approaches have promise for revolutionary impact on computation, secure communications, high-precision sensing, and many other areas. Among other advances, Engund has made important contributions in each of quantum and photonic devices, quantum information processing, quantum communications, and quantum sensing, and he has become widely recognized for his work in these areas. Englund has also been making valuable educational contributions to the department, including introduction of a new combination undergraduate and graduate course, 6.S077/6.S977 (Fundamentals of Photonics).

Recent Work

  • Video

    2024 MIT R&D Conference: Track 6 - Quantum 2.0 - Compiling Machine Intelligence onto (Quantum) Optoelectronic Systems

    November 19, 2024Conference Video Duration: 19:7
    Compiling Machine Intelligence onto (Quantum) Optoelectronic Systems
    Dirk Englund
    Associate Professor, MIT Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

    The world of quantum mechanics holds enormous potential to address unsolved problems in communications, computation, precision measurements, and machine learning/AI. Dr. Englund's QP-Group at MIT pursues experimental and theoretical research towards machine learning hardware and critical quantum technologies (computing, networking, sensing) by precision control of photons and atomic systems, combining techniques from atomic physics, optoelectronics, and modern semiconductor devices. In this talk, Dr. Englund will share some of the latest research conducted by his group at MIT and their potential applications.

    3.31.22-Quantum-Sensor-Dirk-Englund

    March 31, 2022Conference Video Duration: 31:29
    Dirk Englund
    Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, MIT Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

    Dirk Englund - RD2017

    November 22, 2017Conference Video Duration: 34:54

    Semiconductor quantum technologies for communications and computing

    The Internet is among the most significant inventions of the 20th Century. We are now poised for the development of a quantum internet to exchange quantum information and distribute entanglement among quantum computers that could be great distances apart. This kind of quantum internet would have a range of applications that aren’t possible in a classical world, including long-distance unconditionally-secure communication, precision sensing and navigation, and distributed quantum computing. But we still need to develop or perfect many types of components and protocols to build such a quantum internet. This talk will consider some of these components, including quantum memories based on atomic defects in semiconductors, circuits for manipulating single electronic and nuclear spins, efficient spin-photon interfaces, and photonic integrated circuits. The talk will also provide an overview of quantum communications protocols that are now running in a Boston-area quantum network.

    2017 MIT Research and Development Conference