Amy C. Foster

Amy Carole Foster (née Turner) is an American engineer who is an associate professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. Her work considers nonlinear optics and silicon-based photonic devices.

Early life and education

Foster studied electrical engineering at the University at Buffalo. She moved to Cornell University for her graduate studies, where she worked with Michal Lipson. Her doctoral research looked at nonlinear optics in silicon waveguides. After earning her doctorate, Foster worked as a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University.

Research and career

In 2010, Foster joined the faculty at Johns Hopkins University. Her research considers the development of silicon-based photonic devices for new technologies. For the encryption of data, Foster developed a nonlinear photonic crystalline disk with input and output waveguides. This device configuration allows for the reproducible scrambling of signals, which creates specific keys for various information inputs. Such devices are almost impossible to clone, and reliably generate a large number of keys for the secure transmission of data.

Foster has served as an Associate Editor of Optics Express since 2016 and was appointed The Optical Society Siegman International Summer School lecturer in 2018.

Awards and honors

• 2012 DARPA Young Faculty Award
• 2016 Johns Hopkins University Catalyst Award

Selected publications

• Jacob S. Levy; Alexander Gondarenko; Mark A. Foster; Amy C. Turner-Foster; Alexander L. Gaeta; Michal Lipson (20 December 2009). "CMOS-compatible multiple-wavelength oscillator for on-chip optical interconnects". Nature Photonics. 4 (1): 37–40. doi:10.1038/NPHOTON.2009.259. ISSN 1749-4885. Wikidata Q56004567.
• Mark A Foster; Amy C Turner; Jay E Sharping; Bradley S Schmidt; Michal Lipson; Alexander L Gaeta (22 June 2006). "Broad-band optical parametric gain on a silicon photonic chip". Nature. 441 (7096): 960–3. Bibcode:2006Natur.441..960F. doi:10.1038/NATURE04932. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 16791190. Wikidata Q28247698.
• Mark A Foster; Reza Salem; David F Geraghty; Amy C Turner-Foster; Michal Lipson; Alexander L Gaeta (1 November 2008). "Silicon-chip-based ultrafast optical oscilloscope". Nature. 456 (7218): 81–84. Bibcode:2008Natur.456...81F. doi:10.1038/NATURE07430. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 18987739. Wikidata Q34873865.