SystemX Alliance Newsletter - June 2022

SystemX Spring Workshop 2022 Overview

This year's Spring Workshop was held virtually over two days, via Zoom, where speakers from the departments of the School of Engineering and School of Medicine shared their current research surrounding the theme of Energy-Efficient Computing.

Thank you to our speakers, those who attended live, and a special thank you to Professors Eric Pop and Subhasish Mitra for being the lead organizers for our workshop!

If you were not able to attend the event live, you can view the recordings and presentation slides on the SystemX website here: https://members.systemx.stanford.edu/systemx-2022-spring-workshop-may-12-and-17-2022

Save the date for the SystemX Alliance 2022 Fall Conference (November 15-17, 2022)!

Introducing: Amin Arbabian & Tom Lee

Get to know SystemX's Faculty Co-Directors!

Prof. Amin Arbabian

Amin Arbabian received the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering and computer science from the University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA, in 2011. From 2007 to 2008, he was a part of the Initial Engineering Team at Tagarray, Inc., Palo Alto, CA, USA (now acquired by Maxim Integrated Inc.). In 2010, he joined Qualcomm's Corporate Research and Development Division, San Diego, CA, USA, where he designed circuits for next-generation ultralow power wireless transceivers. In 2012, he joined Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA, where he is now an Associate Professor of electrical engineering. His current research interests include mm-wave and high-frequency circuits and systems, imaging technologies, Internet-of-Everything devices including wireless power delivery techniques, and medical implants. 

Dr. Arbabian was a recipient or co-recipient of the 2020 IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Circuits and Systems Best Paper Award, 2016 Stanford University Tau Beta Pi Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, the 2015 NSF CAREER Award, the 2014 DARPA Young Faculty Award including the Director’s Fellowship in 2016, the 2013 Hellman Faculty Scholarship, the 2010–2011, 2014–2015, and 2016–2017 Qualcomm Innovation Fellowships, and best paper awards at the 2017 IEEE Biomedical Circuits and Systems Conference, the 2016 IEEE Conference on Biomedical Wireless Technologies, Networks, and Sensing Systems, the 2014 IEEE VLSI Circuits Symposium, the 2013 IEEE International Conference on Ultra-Wideband, the 2010 IEEE Jack Kilby Award for Outstanding Student Paper at the International SolidState Circuits Conference, and two-time second place best student paper awards at 2008 and 2011 RFIC Symposiums. He currently serves on the steering committee for RFIC Symposium, the technical program committees of RFIC Symposium and VLSI Circuits Symposium, and as an Associate Editor for IEEE Solid-State Circuits Letters and the IEEE Journal of Electromagnetics, RF and Microwaves in Medicine and Biology. [Arbabian Lab Website]

Prof. Tom Lee

Thomas H. Lee received the S.B., S.M. and Sc.D. degrees in electrical engineering, all from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1983, 1985, and 1990, respectively, where his doctoral thesis described the first CMOS radio.

He joined Analog Devices in 1990 where he was primarily engaged in the design of high-speed clock recovery devices. In 1992, he joined Rambus Inc. in Mountain View, CA where he developed high-speed analog circuitry for 500 megabyte/s CMOS DRAMs.

He has also contributed to the development of PLLs in the StrongARM, Alpha and AMD K6/K7/K8 microprocessors. Since 1994, he has been a Professor of Electrical Engineering at Stanford University, where he established the Stanford Microwave Integrated Circuits Laboratory (SMIrC).

He has twice received the "Best Paper" award at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference, co-authored a "Best Student Paper" at ISSCC, and was awarded the Best Paper prize at CICC. He is a Packard Foundation Fellowship recipient, as well as a Fellow of the IEEE.

He served for a decade as an IEEE Distinguished Lecturer of the Solid-State Circuits Society, and has been a Distinguished Lecturer of the IEEE Microwave Society as well. He holds approximately 70 U.S. patents and authored The Design of CMOS Radio-Frequency Integrated Circuits (now in its second edition) and Planar Microwave Engineering, both with Cambridge University Press. He is a co-author of four additional books on RF circuit design, and also cofounded Matrix Semiconductor (acquired by Sandisk in 2006). He founded ZeroG Wireless (acquired by Microchip) and is a cofounder of Ayla Networks. He served as MTO Director at DARPA from April 2011 to October 2012, and on the board of Xilinx from 2016 until its acquisition by AMD in 2022.

In 2011 he was awarded the Ho-Am (Samsung) Prize in Engineering (colloquially known as the "Korean Nobel"), and in 2012 was awarded the U.S. Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Civilian Service for his work at DARPA, as well as an Honoris Causa doctorate from the University of Waterloo. He received the IEEE Gustav R. Kirchhoff Technical Field Award in 2021. [SMIRC Website]

SystemX Faculty Tutorials

An exciting new way for our faculty members to share their current research work with our SystemX Members, outside of our larger events.*

Recordings now available*

May 24 - Prof. Eric Pop - "What Are 2D Materials Good For?"

Abstract: This talk will present my (biased!) perspective of what two-dimensional (2D) materials could be good for. For example, they may be good for applications where their ultrathin nature and lack of dangling bonds give them distinct advantages, such as flexible electronics [1] or DNA-sorting nanopores [2]. They may not be good for applications where conventional materials work well, like in transistors thicker than a few nanometers. I will focus on the case of 2D materials for 3D heterogeneous integration of electronics, which presents significant advantages for energy-efficient computing [3]. In this context, 2D materials could be monolayer transistors with ultralow leakage [4] (taking advantage of larger band gaps than silicon), used as access devices for high-density data storage [5]. For example, recent results from our group have shown monolayer transistors with record performance [6,7], which cannot be achieved with sub-nanometer thin conventional semiconductors. I will also describe some less conventional applications, using 2D materials as highly efficient thermal insulators [8] and as thermal transistors [9]. These could enable control of heat in “thermal circuits” analogous with electrical circuits. Combined, these studies reveal fundamental limits and some unusual applications of 2D materials, which take advantage of their unique properties. [References for Prof. Pop's talk]

May 31 - Prof. Zhenan Bao - "Skin-Inspired Sensors, Circuits, Displays"

Abstract: Skin is the body’s largest organ. It is responsible for the transduction of a vast amount of information. This conformable, stretchable, self-healable and biodegradable material simultaneously collects signals from external stimuli that translate into information such as pressure, pain, and temperature. The development of electronic materials, inspired by the complexity of this organ is a tremendous, unrealized materials challenge. However, the advent of organic-based electronic materials may offer a potential solution to this longstanding problem. Over the past decade, we have developed materials design concepts to add skin-like functions to organic electronic materials without compromising their electronic properties. These new materials and new devices enabled arrange of new applications in medical devices, robotics and wearable electronics. In this talk, I will discuss basic material design concepts for realizing stretchable, self-healable and biodegradable conductive or semiconductive materials. I will discuss materials developments, sensor design, methods for scalable fabrication of stretchable electronic circuit blocks and stretchable displays. I will describe a few examples of applications on wearables and implantables. [References for Prof. Bao's Talk]