Mission

Nanolab is working on various subjects in the field of micro/nano-electronics with special emphasis on: (i) energy efficient devices and their integration in circuits and systems to achieve low power electronic functions, (ii) Edge AI and IoT smart sensors for real-time small-foot-print aplications, (iii) phase change and ferroelectric materials for reconfigurable RF and neuromorphic computation, (iv) novel architectures of silicon qubits for scalable Quantum Computing. The lab makes important effort to support the sustainability of future electronics platforms at three levels: (1) by contributing to energy efficiency, (2) by prioritizing materials that are abundant on Earth, and, (3) by working and/or developing with non-toxic fabrication processes. 

Current work

Advaced ERC Grant Millitech (https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/695459/de) Milli-Volt Switch Technologies for Energy Efficient Computation and Sensing
The Milli-Tech proposal aims at a novel technology platform serving both computation and sensing: electronic switch architectures, called steep slope switches, exploiting new device physics and concepts in emerging 2D materials to achieve operation at voltages below 100 millivolts. The project develops a technological platform called ‘millivolt technology’ focusing on low power digital and sensing/analog electronic functions exploiting steep slopes, with the goal of lowering the energy per useful function (computed and sensed bit of information) by a factor of 100x.
Such ultra-low operation voltage will contribute to solving major challenges of nanoelectronics such as power issues and it will enable energy efficient super-sensitive sensors for Internet-of-Everything (IoE). Milli-Tech includes fundamental research on new solid-state steep slope device concepts: heterostructure tunnel FETs in 2D Transition-Metal-Dichalcogenides (TMD), 2D Van der Waals super-lattice energy filter switch and hybrid architectures combining two switching principles: band-to-band-tunneling and metal-insulator-transition or negative capacitance in VO2, used as additive technology boosters.

DIGIPREDICT FET Proactive Project (https://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/horizon2020/items/699059)  - DIGIPREDICT proposes the first of its kind digital twin to predict the progression of disease and the need for early intervention in infectious and cardiovascular diseases. A digital twin is a digital representation of an object or process from the real world in the digital world – and more specifically for the case of DIGIPREDICT – of a patient. The project combines the latest advances in digital biomarkers, organ-on-chip (OoC) and artificial intelligence at the edge, and aims to build a new interdisciplinary community in Europe focused on digital twins.
The developed system will provide medical doctors with a unique digital tool for early prediction of potential serious complications in COVID-19 patients. Beyond COVID-19, the system promises to also improve the prevention, diagnosis, monitoring and treatment of cardiovascular disease and detect the potential onset of inflammatory disease.
This multi- and cross-disciplinary project will combine scientific excellence with engineering know-how, and leverage the expertise of doctors, biologists, electrical engineers, computer scientists, signal-processing engineers and social scientists from across Europe .

SINERGIA NEMO Project - The NeMO (neuromimetic metal-oxide memristors) Sinergia project aims to develop fundamental understanding, optimized materials and novel device architectures for the engineering of highly tunable metal-oxide neuromimetic memristors. Mimicking biological neurons, the devices that we will develop will operate in voltage (100 to 200mV peak-to-peak) and frequency (0.1KHz to 1 MHz) ranges that will make them 100x more energy efficient than today’s equivalent CMOS-based hardware. They will therefore enable implementation of highly energy efficient neuro-mimetic computational hardware for next generation information technologies.
This ambitious goal needs a multidisciplinary approach combining theoretical and computational material science, solid-state physics and chemistry, and electronic device and circuit design and technology. These synergies are reflected in the collaboration between the teams led by Professors Nicola Spaldin (Materials Department, ETHZ) and Adrian Ionescu (Electrical Engineering Department, EPFL).

Biography

Adrian M. Ionescu is a Full Professor of Nanoelectronics at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland. He received the B.S. &M.S. in Electronics and Telecommunications in 1989 from the University ‘Politehnica’ Bucharest, Romania. He holds two PhDs, in Microelectronics, from University ‘Politehnica’ Bucharest (1994) and in Physics of semiconductor devices from the National Polytechnic Institute of Grenoble, France (1997).He held staff and/or visiting positions at Commissariat à l’Énergie Atomique (CEA-LETI), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), and Stanford University, USA. He was Invited Professor with Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan, in 2012 and 2016.He is the founder and director of the Nanoelectronic Devices Laboratory (Nanolab: http://nanolab.epfl.ch/ ) of EPFL. Prof. Ionescu served as Director of the Doctoral Program in Microsystems and Microelectronics of EPFL and Director of the (former) Institute of Microsystems and Microelectronics of EPFL. His nanoelectronics research deals with beyond CMOS and More-Than Moore energy efficient devices and technologies. His group pioneered steep slope transistors, M/NEMS devices with main emphasis on low power concepts in order to achieve novel energy efficient digital, analog, radio frequency and low power sensing functions. He has been the leader of many European projects focusing on low power nanoelectronics and nanotechnology for smart systems.He was an Editor of IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices and is currently a Board Member of Proceedings of IEEE. He has served the Technical Committees of many IEEE conferences, and, he was the Technical Chair of IEEE SNW at IEEE VLSI Technology Symposium 2016 (USA), and the General Chair of the IEEE European Solid-State Devices and Circuits Research Conference (ESSDERC/ESSCIRC 2016). Prof. Ionescu has published more than 600 articles in international journals and conference proceedings. He is the recipient of IBM Faculty Award 2013 for contributions to the Engineering and the recipient of André Blondel Medal 2009 of the Society of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Paris, France. He and his group received the IEEE George Smith Award that in 2017.Professor Ionescu has been the main coordinator of FET Flagship Pilot Guardian Angels for a Smarter Life, an advanced research program involving a Consortium of 66 partners (global industries in field of semiconductors, telecommunications, sensors, health care and automotive, large research institutes and universities), selected by the European Commission as one of the four leading finalists for future emerging technologies.He is an IEEE Fellow and in 2015 he was elected as a member of the Swiss Academy of Sciences (SATW). In the same year he received the Outstanding Achievement Award of SATW for the successful coordination and delivery of the first national Swiss Technology Outlook to the Swiss government, a document that summarizes the work of multi‐disciplinary team of experts and provides recommendations for technological priorities and investments in the digital economy.In 2016 he received an Advanced ERC (European Research Council) Grant for individual senior scientists in Europe to develop a program aiming at energy efficient computation and sensing for Internet-of-Things. Currently, he leads the FET Proactive DIGIPREDICT, an European Consortium developing Digital Twins for Personalized, Preventive and Participatory Healthcare, a paradigm change in 21st century sustainable healthcare