Lijian's research interest covers experimental and theoretical aspects of quantum optics, quantum information processing, interactions between light field and quantum materials etc., focusing on the generation, manipulation and detection of non-classical optical states and their applications in imaging, communication, metrology and simulations, as well as the nonlinear and quantum optical phenomena in high-temperature superconductors. His has published about 20 papers in peer-review journals including Nature Photonics, Nature Materials, Physical Review Letters.