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Stephen E. Ralph

Optical signal processing, Ultra-high-speed devices

An associate professor in Georgia Tech's School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Professor Stephen Ralph has rapidly established himself as a world-class scientist in the field of high-speed optical technology, focusing on the development of optical and electrical devices and methods which allow intelligent signal processing in both the optical and electronic domains. Ralph is a member of the Electromagnetics, Microsystems, and Optics and Photonics Technical Interest Groups.

Head of the Ultrafast Optical Communications Laboratory at Georgia Tech since 1998, Ralph was the first in his field to explain enhanced far infrared emission from semi-insulating materials and he conducted pioneering research into far-infrared spectroscopic investigations of ultra-fast carrier transport.

Ralph has led a number of industry-supported optical component and optical link projects including the demonstration 160 Gbps OTDM links, development of coherent optical CDMA networks and hybrid optical-electronic dispersion compensation techniques for multimode fiber.

His current investigations are aimed at new methods that enable intelligent and adaptive electronic and optical signal processing based on novel receiver structures and an integrated electronic and electro-optical devices platform technology based on epitaxial gallium nitride/lithium niobate. The work could lead to fully integrated systems-on-a-chip which may enable sophisticated optical processing with integrated electronic monitoring, optimization and control in a single package.

He recently completed his role in a multi-university proof-of-concept project to combine optical sensing technology with highly integrated electrical circuits to develop micro-optical sensors for chemical and biological agents.

Ralph's other research activities include multimode fiber transport, 10 Gbps research, high speed lasers, equalization architectures and modulation technologies.

He received four patents in 2004, and his writing appeared in two books and a journal. He also made 13 conference presentations.

Ralph received an electrical engineering degree with highest honors from Georgia Tech and a PhD from Cornell, also in electrical engineering.

Phone: 404-894-5168
Fax: 404-894-4700
E-mail: stephen.ralph@ece.gatech.edu
More information: http://faculty.ece.gatech.edu/stephen.ralph