Abu Sebastian

Follow @abuseb

Email: ase[AT]zurich[dot]ibm[dot]com

SHORT BIOGRAPHY:

Abu Sebastian is a distinguished scientist and manager at IBM Research - Zurich in Rüschlikon, Switzerland. He was born in Kerala, India. He received a B. E. (Hons.) degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from BITS Pilani, India and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering (minor in Mathematics) from Iowa State University. Dr. Sebastian is the author/co-author of over 200 publications in peer-reviewed journals/conference proceedings and holds over 80 US patents. He is a co-recipient of the 2009 IEEE Control Systems Technology Award and the 2009 IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology Outstanding Paper Award. In 2013 he received the IFAC Mechatronic Systems Young Researcher Award for his contributions to the field of mico-/nanoscale mechatronic systems. In 2015 he was awarded the European Research Council (ERC) consolidator grant and in 2020, he was awarded an ERC Proof-of-concept grant. He is an IBM Master Inventor since 2016. He was named Principal and Distinguished Research Staff Member in 2018 and 2020, respectively. In 2019 he received the Ovshinsky Lectureship Award for his contributions to 'Phase-change materials for cognitive computing'.  In 2023, he received the Prof. L. K. Maheshwari Foundation Distinguished Alumnus Award from BITS Pilani, India. In 2023, he was also conferred the title of Visiting Professor in Materials by University of Oxford. He has served on the technical program committees of several conferences including IEDM, AICAS, NVMTS and E\PCOS and has served as an editor/guest editor for Mechatronics, APL Material, Applied Physics Letters, and IEEE Design and Test. He is a Distinguished Lecturer and Fellow of the IEEE.

SELECTED EXTERNALLY FUNDED PROJECTS:

• DARPA OPTIMA
• Horizon Europe NeuroSoC
• Horizon Europe EIC Pathfinder HYBRAIN
• Horizon Europe EIC Pathfinder BioPIM
• European Research Council (ERC) Proof-of-concept Grant
• H2020 FET Open WiPLASH
• H2020 ICT FunCOMP
• H2020 ICT MNEMOSENE
• European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator grant
• Swiss National Science Foundation Sinergia Grant, Hybrid CMOS/Memristive Neuromorphic Systems for Data Analytics
• FP7 CareRAMM
• FP7 DIASPORA
• FP7 PROTEM

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:

Google Scholar

BOOK:

• S. Spiga, A. Sebastian, D. Querlioz, B. Rajendran, 'Memristive devices for brain-inspired computing', Elsevier, 2020

IN-MEMORY COMPUTING:

• M. Le Gallo et al., 'A 64-core mixed-signal in-memory compute chip based on phase-change memory for deep neural network inference', Nature Electronics, 2023
• J. Klein et al., 'ALPINE: Analog In-Memory Acceleration with Tight Processor Integration for Deep Learning, IEEE Trans. Computers, 2022
• G. Karunaratne et al., 'In-memory realization of in-situ few-shot continual learning with a dynamically evolving explicit memory', ESSDERC, 2022
• R. Khaddam-Aljameh et al., 'HERMES core: A 1.59TOPS/mm2 PCM on 14nm CMOS in-memory compute core using 300ps/LSB linearized CCO-based ADCs', IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, 2022
• J. Feldmann, N. Youngblood, M. Karpov, H. Gehring, M. Stappers, M. Le Gallo, X. Fu, A. Lukashchuk, A. S. Raja, J. Liu, C. D. Wright, A. Sebastian*, T. J. Kippenberg*, W. H. P. Pernice*, H. Bhaskaran*, 'Parallel convolution processing using an integrated photonic tensor core', Nature, 2021
• A. Sebastian*, M. Le Gallo, R. Khaddam-Aljameh, E. Eleftheriou, 'Memory devices and applications for in-memory computing', Nature Nanotechnology, 2020
• V. Joshi, M. Le Gallo*, S. Haefeli, I. Boybat, S. R. Nandakumar, C. Piveteau, M. Dazzi, B. Rajendran, A. Sebastian*, E. Eleftheriou, 'Accurate deep neural network inference using computational phase-change memory', Nature Communications, 2020
• C. Rios, N. Youngblood, Z. Cheng, M. Le Gallo, W. H. P. Pernice, C. D. Wright, A. Sebastian*, H. Bhaskaran*, 'In-memory computing on a photonic platform', Science Advances, 2019
• I. Giannopoulos*, A. Sebastian*, M. Le Gallo, V. P. Jonnalagadda, M. Sousa, M. N. Boon, E. Eleftheriou, '8-bit precision in-memory multiplication with projected phase-change memory', Proc. IEDM, 2018 (Highlight paper)
• Le Gallo*, A. Sebastian*, R. Mathis, M. Manica, H. Giefers, T. Tuma, C. Bekas, A. Curioni, E. Eleftheriou, “Mixed-precision in-memory computing”, Nature Electronics, 2018
• Sebastian*, T. Tuma, N. Papandreou, M. Le Gallo, L. Kull, T. Parnell, E. Eleftheriou, “Temporal correlation detection using computational phase-change memory”, Nature Communications, 2017
• Hosseini, A. Sebastian, N. Papandreou, C. D. Wright, H. Bhaskaran, “Accumulation-based computing using phase change memories with FET access devices”, IEEE Electron Device Letters, 2015

NEURO-VECTOR SYMBOLIC ARCHITECTURES:

• J. Langenegger, G. Karunaratne, M. Hersche, L. Benini, A. Sebastian*, A. Rahimi*, "In-memory factorization of holographic perceptual representations", Nature Nanotechnology, 2023
• M. Hersche, M. Zeqiri, L. Benini, A. Sebastian*, A. Rahimi*, "A neuro-vector-symbolic architecture for solving Raven’s progressive matrices", Nature Machine Intelligence, 2023
• S. Ghazi Sarwat*, B. Kersting, T. Moraitis, V. P. Jonnalagadda, A. Sebastian*, "Phase-change memtransistive synapses for mixed-plasticity neural computations", Nature Nanotechnology, 2022
• M. Hersche, G. Karunaratne, G. Cherubini, L. Benini, A. Sebastian*, A. Rahimi*, "Constrained few-shot class-incremental learning", Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR), 2022
• G. Karunaratne, M. Schmuck, M. Le Gallo, G. Cherubini, L. Benini, A. Sebastian*, A. Rahimi*, 'Robust high-dimensional memory-augmented neural networks', Nature Communications, 12, 2468, 2021
• G. Karunaratne, M. Le Gallo, G. Cherubini, L. Benini, A. Rahimi*, A. Sebastian*, 'In-memory hyperdimensional computing', Nature Electronics, 2020

NEUROMORPHIC COMPUTING:

• B. Rajendran, A. Sebastian, M. Schmuker, N. Srinivasa, E. Eleftheriou, 'Low-power neuromorphic hardware for signal processing applications: A review of architectural and system-level design approaches', IEEE Signal Proc. Magazine, 2019
• A. Sebastian*, M. Le Gallo, G. W. Burr, S. Kim, M. BrightSky, E. Eleftheriou, 'Tutorial: Brian-inspired computing using phase-change memory devices', J. Appl. Phys., vol. 124(11), 111101, 2018
• T. Moraitis*, A. Sebastian* and E. Eleftheriou, 'Short-term plasticity in neuromorphic learning', IEEE Trans. on Nanotech., vol. 12(3), 45-53, 2018
• Boybat*, M. Le Gallo, S. R. Nandakumar, T. Moraitis, T. Parnell, T. Tuma, B. Rajendran, Y. Leblebici, A. Sebastian*, E. Eleftheriou, “Neuromorphic computing with multi-memristive synapses”, Nature Communications, 2018
• Gong, T. Ide, S. Kim, I. Boybat, A. Sebastian, V. Narayanan, T. Ando*, “Signal and noise extraction from analog memory elements for neuromorphic computing”, Nature Communications, 2018
• G. W. Burr, R. M. Shelby, A. Sebastian et al., “Neuromorphic computing using non-volatile memory”, Advances in Physics X, vol. 2(1), pp. 89-124, 2017
• Tuma, A. Pantazi, M. Le Gallo, A. Sebastian, E. Eleftheriou, “Stochastic phase-change neurons”, Nature Nanotechnology, 2016 (Cover)

EXPLORATORY MEMORY:

• M. Lanza, A. Sebastian, et al., "Memristive technologies for data storage, computation, encryption, and radio-frequency communication", Science, 2022
• M. Le Gallo and A. Sebastian, "An overview of phase-change memory device physics", J. Phys. D. Appl. Phys., 2020
• Salinga*, B. Kersting, I. Ronneberger, V. P. Jonnalagadda, X. T. Vu, M. Le Gallo, I. Giannopoulos, O. Cojocaru-Miredin, R. Mazzarello, A. Sebastian*, “Monatomic phase change memory”, Nature Materials, 2018 (Cover)
• Le Gallo, D. Krebs, F. Zipolli, M. Salinga, A. Sebastian, “Collective structural relaxation in phase-change memory devices”, Adv. Electronic Materials, 2018
• W. Burr, M. J. Brightsky, A. Sebastian et al., “Recent progress in phase-change memory technology”, IEEE Journal on emerging and selected topics in circuits and systems, 2016
• Le Gallo, A. Athmanathan, D. Krebs, A. Sebastian, “Evidence for thermally assisted threshold switching behavior in nanoscale phase-change memory cells”, Journal of Applied Physics, 119, 025704, 2016
• Le Gallo, M. Kaes, A. Sebastian, D. Krebs, “Subthreshold electrical transport in amorphous phase change materials”, New Journal of Physics., 2015
• C. A. Santini*, A. Sebastian*, C. Marchiori, V. P. Jonnalagadda,  L. Dellmann, W. W. Koelmans, M. D. Rossell, C. P. Rossel, E. Eleftheriou, “Oxygenated amorphous carbon for resistive memory applications”, Nature Communications, 2015
• W. Koelmans*, A. Sebastian, V. P. Jonnalagadda, D. Krebs, L. Dellmann, E. Eleftheriou, Projected phase-change memory devices, Nature communications, 6, 2015
• A. Sebastian, D. Krebs, M. Le Gallo, H. Pozidis, E. Eleftheriou, “A Collective Relaxation Model for Resistance Drift in Phase Change Memory Cells”, Proc. IEEE International Reliability Physics Symposium, 2015
• A. Sebastian*, M. Le Gallo, D. Krebs, “Crystal growth within a phase change memory cell”, Nature Communications, 5(4314), 1-9, 2014
• A.  Sebastian*, A. Pauza , C. Rossel, R. M. Shelby, A. F. Rodriguez, H. Pozidis and E. Eleftheriou, “Resistance switching at the nanometer scale in amorphous carbon”, New Journal of Physics, vol. 13, pp. 013020, 2011
• Sebastian*, N. Papandreou, A. Pantazi, H. Pozidis and E. Eleftheriou, “Non-resistance based cell-state metric for multi-level phase change memory”, Journal of Applied Physics, 110, 084505, 2011
• N. Papandreou, A. Pantazi, Sebastian, E. Eleftheriou, M. J. Breitwisch, C. Lam, H. Pozdis, “Estimation of Amorphous Fraction in Multilevel Phase Change Memory Cells”, Solid-state electronics, vol. 54(9), 2010

NANOSCALE DYNAMICS AND CONTROL:

• Shamsudhin, N. Laeubli, H. B. Atakan, H. Vogler, C. Hu, W. Haeberle, A. Sebastian, U. Grossniklaus and B. J. Nelson, “Massively parallelized pollen tube guidance and mechanical measurements on a Lab-on-a-Chip platform”, PLOS ONE, 11(12), 2016
• Tuma, A. Pantazi, D. R. Sahoo, P. Eib, G. Salis, H. Pozidis and A. Sebastian, “A high-bandwidth spintronic position sensor”, Nanotechnology, 25(37), 375501, 2014
• T. Tuma, A. Sebastian, J. Lygeros and A. Pantazi, “Four pillars of nanopositioning”, IEEE Control Systems Magazine, 2013
• Tuma, J. Lygeros, V. Kartik, A. Sebastian and A. Pantazi, “High-speed multiresolution scanning probe microscopy based on Lissajous scan trajectories”, Nanotechnology, 23(18), pp. 185501, May 2012
• A. Sebastian, N. Shamsudhin, H. Rothuizen, U. Drechsler, W. W. Koelmans, H. Bhaskaran, H. J. Quenzer, B. Wagner, M. Despont, “Micro-cantilevers with AlN actuators and PtSi tips for multi-frequency atomic force microscopy”, Review of Scientific Instruments, vol. 83, 096107, 2012.
• A. Sebastian and A. Pantazi, “Nanopositioning With Multiple Sensors: A Case Study in Data Storage”, IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology, vol. 20(2), pp. 382-394, Mar. 2012.
• Bazaei, S. O. R. Moheimani and A. Sebastian, “An Analysis of Signal Transformation Approach to Triangular Waveform Tracking”, Automatica, vol. 47(4), pp. 838-847, Apr. 2011
• H. Bhaskaran, B. Gotsmann, A. Sebastian, U. Drechsler, M. A. Lantz, M. Despont, P. Jaroenapibal, R. W. Carpick, Y. Chen and K. Sridharan, “Ultralow nanoscale wear through atom-by-atom attrition in silicon-containing diamond-like carbon”, Nature Nanotechnology, vol. 5, pp. 181-185, Mar. 2010
• H. Bhaskaran, A. Sebastian and M. Despont, “Nanoscale PtSi tips for conducting probe technologies”, IEEE Transactions on Nanotechnology, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 128-131, January 2009.
• A. Sebastian, H. Bhaskaran, A. Pauza, M. Despont, H. Pozidis, “Novel Scanning Probe Concepts for Nanoscale Electrical Characterization”, Proc. IEEE Nanotechnology Conference, 2009.
• A. Sebastian and D. Wiesmann, “Modeling and experimental identification of silicon micro-heater dynamics: A systems approach”, IEEE/ASME Journal of Micro-electromechanical Systems, vol. 17, No. 4, pp. 911-920, Aug. 2008.
• A. Sebastian, A. Pantazi, H. Pozidis, and E. Eleftheriou, “Nanopositioning for Probe-based Data Storage”, IEEE Control Systems Magazine, pp. 26-35, August 2008
• Pantazi, A. Sebastian et al., "Probe-based ultrahigh-density storage technology", IBM Journal of Research and Development, vol. 52, no. 4/5, Jul/Sep 2008.
• A. Sebastian and S. Salapaka, “Design methodologies for robust nanopositioning”, IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology, vol. 13(6), pp. 868-876, Nov. 2005.
• A. Sebastian, A. Gannepalla, M. V. Salapaka, “A Review of the Systems Approach to the Analysis of Dynamic-Mode Atomic Force Microscopy”, IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology, vol. 15(5), 2007.
• A. Pantazi, A. Sebastian, H. Pozidis, E. Eleftheriou, “Two-sensor-based H∞ control for nanopositioning in probe storage”, Proc. IEEE Control and Decision Conference, 2005.
• A. Gannepalli, A. Sebastian, J. Cleveland, M. V. Salapaka, “Thermally driven non-contact atomic force microscopy”, Applied Physics Letters, 87, 111901, 2005.
• A. Sebastian, A. Gannepalli, M. V. Salapaka, “The amplitude phase dynamics and fixed points in tapping-mode atomic force microscopy”, Proc. American Control Conference, 2004.
• A. Sebastian, M. V. Salapaka, J. P. Cleveland, “Robust Control Approach to Atomic Force Microscopy”, Proc. IEEE Control and Decision Conference, 2003.
• D. R. Sahoo, A. Sebastian, M. V. Salapaka, “Transient-signal-based sample-detection in atomic force microscopy”, Applied Physics Letters, vol. 83(26), 2003.
• S. Salapaka, A. Sebastian, J. P. Cleveland, M. V. Salapaka, “High bandwidth nano-positioner: A robust control approach”, Review of Scientific Instruments, vol. 73(9), 2002.
• A. Sebastian, M. V. Salapaka, D. J. Chen and J. P. Cleveland, “Harmonic and power balance tools for atomic force microscopy”, Journal of Applied Physics, vol. 89(11), pp. 6473-6480, Jun. 2001.

SELECTED TALKS/LECTURES/PANELS:

LECTURES:

• MIT, Cambridge, USA, Nov. 2023
• Texas A&M, USA, Oct. 2023
• University of Oxford, UK, Feb. 2023
• IEEE Distinguished Lecture, Jan 2023
• University of Southampton, UK, Mar. 2022
• University of Oxford, UK, Feb. 2022
• Future Computing Laboratory, ETH Zurich, Oct. 2021
• Intelligence in chip: Tomorrow of integrated circuits, IEEE CASS seasonal school, Aug. 2021
• Max Planck Institute of Microsctructure Physics, July 2021
• Mondays in Memory (MiM), TU Vienna, June 2021
• Lund University, June 2021
• Computer Architecture Fall 2020, ETH Zurich, Dec. 2020
• University College London, March 2020
• Institute of Neuroinformatics, Univ. Zurich., Nov. 2019
• Sabanci University, Istanbul, Turkey, April 2019
• Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey, April 2019
• University of Oxford, Oxford, UK, March 2019
• Computer Systems Colloquium, Stanford University, Stanford, USA, Mar 2018
• CDT Advanced Technology Lectures, Univ. of Cambridge, UK, 2016
• Univ. of Oxford, UK, 2015

TUTORIALS:

• Short course, DRC 2024, June 2024
• EDTM, Mar. 2024
• Short course, IEDM 2023, Dec. 2023
• Photonics online meetup, Jan. 2021
• IEDM, San Francisco, Dec. 2019
• ISCAS, Sapporo, Japan, May 2019
• MRS Spring Meeting, Phoenix, Arizona, USA, 2017

TALKS:

• Keynote, DRC 2024, Jun. 2024
• Keynote, ICNCE, Jun. 2024
• Invited Talk, Memrisys 2023, Nov. 2023
• Invited Talk, Heidelberg, Sep. 2023
• Invited Talk, Max Planck, Sep. 2023
• Panelist, Montreaux, Apr. 2023
• Keynote, Memrisys, Boston, USA, Dec 2022
• Invited Talk, DAC Workshop, San Francisco, USA, July 2022
• Invited Talk, Embedded PCM workshop, Agrate, Italy, June 2022
• Invited Talk, Juelich Forschungszentrum, Germany, May 2022
• Invited Talk, EMRS, May 2022 (virtual)
• Keynote, IEEE International Conference on IC Design and Technology (ICICDT), Sep. 2021.
• Invited Talk, Workshop on Materials Challenges for Memory (APL Materials), April 2021
• Invited Talk, Neurotech Forum II, Workshop on Neuromorphic computing technologies: Opportunities, challenges and Applications, March 2021
• Invited Talk, NEUROTECH educational program, Jan. 2021
• Invited Talk, CASCONxEVOKE, Nov. 2020
• Invited Talk, Nature conference on neuromorphic computing, Beijing, Oct. 2019
• Ovshinsky Lecture, EP\COS, Grenoble, Sep. 2019
• Invited Talk, CLEO Europe, Munich, Germany, June 2019
• Invited Talk, VLSI, Kyoto, Japan, June 2019
• Invited Talk, DATE Workshop, Florence, Italy, March 2019
• Plenary Talk, ICEE, Bangalore, India, Dec 2018
• Invited Talk, NVMTS, Sendai, Japan, October 2018
• Invited Talk, E/PCOS, Catania, Italy, September 2018
• Invited Talk, CIMTEC, Perugia, Italy, June 2018
• Invited Talk, MRS Spring Meeting, Phoenix, Arizona, USA, April 2018
• Invited Talk, mDAC: Memristor Technology, Desing, Automation and Computing, HiPEAC, Manchester, UK, Jan 2018
• Keynote, 17th Non-volatile Memory Technology Symposium, Aachen, Germany, 2017
• Keynote, International Conference on Memristive Materials, Devices and Systems, Athens, Greece, 2017
• Invited Talk, Beyond CMOS: From Devices to Systems, Haifa, Israel, 2017
• Invited Talk, MINDMEM Workshop, Lausanne, Switzerland, 2017
• Invited Talk, CIMTEC, Perugia, Italy, 2016
• Invited Talk, E/PCOS, Cambridge, UK, 2016
• Invited Talk, Memristive Symposium, Dresden, Germany, 2016
• Invited Talk, Institute for Mathematics and its Applications, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, 2016
• Invited Talk, MRS Spring Meeting, Phoenix, Arizona, USA, 2016
• Keynote Talk, Memrisys, Cyprus, 2015
• Invited Talk, Swiss Nano Convention, Neuchatel, Switzerland, 2015

PANELS:

• Panelist, Vaishwik Bharatiay Vaigyanik Summit, Oct. 2020
• Panelist, International workshop on network on chip architectures, Oct. 2020
• Panelist, AICAS, Sep. 2020

RESEARCH IN THE NEWS:

• BBC: Prototype 'Brain-like' chip promises greener AI, says tech giant
• EE Times: IBM Research Inference Chip Performance Results Released
• IBM Research's latest analog AI chip for deep learning inference
• How the future of computing might look like nothing before
• Mimicking the brain: Deep learning meets vector-symbolic AI [IBM Research Blog]
• Light and in-memory computing help AI achieve ultra-low latency [IBM Research Blog]
• IBM is using light, instead of electricity, to create ultra-fast computing [ZDNet]
• IBM adds noise to boost AI's accuracy on analog memory [Venturebeat]
• The brains behind emerging AI [Nature Conference Report]
• Photonic devices compute in memory: Nature highlight
• In-memory computing using photonic memory devices [IBM Research Blog]
• IBM reveals 8-bit analog chip with phase-change memory [IEEE Spectrum]
• Dual 8-bit breakthroughs bring AI to the edge [IBM Research Blog]
• Brain-inspired architecture could improve how computers handle data and advance AI [AIP]
• Keep it simple: Towards single-elemental phase-change memory [IBM Research Blog]
• Novel synaptic architecture for brain inspired computing [IBM Research Blog]
• Glassy antimony makes monatomic phase change memory
• IBM's new in-memory computing solution makes business AI training faster, easier
• IBM: Our in-memory computing breakthrough will cut cost of training AI
• IBM scientists demonstrate mixed-precision in-memory computing for the first time; Hybrid design for AI hardware [IBM Research Blog]
• Understanding resistance drift in amorphous semiconductors
• Celebrating Abu  Sebastian on National Inventor's day [IBM Research Blog]
• IBM can run an experimental AI in memory, not on processors (MIT Tech Review)
• Computational Memory [IBM Research Blog]
• IBM PhD Fellowship to Nandakumar [IBM Research Blog]
• Unsupervised learning with artificial neurons [IBM Research Blog]
• Newsweek article on phase-change neuron
• Kuenstliche Neuronen aus Rueschlikon
• ERC Consolidator Grant [IBM Research Blog]
• Projected memory (EE Times)
• Projected Memory (Le Monde)
• Carbon memory (EE Times)
• Making memory with carbon (IBM Research Blog)
• Sub-threshold transport in PCM (EE Times)
• Threshold switching in PCM (EE Times)
• Crystal growth in PCM (EE Times)
• Crystal growth in PCM (IBM Research Blog)
• Profile of a scientist (IBM Research Blog)

PRIMARY COLLABORATORS (IBM):

• Dr. Manuel Le Gallo, IBM Research - Zurich
• Dr. Abbas Rahimi, IBM Research - Zurich
• Dr. Ghazi Sarwat Syed, IBM Research - Zurich
• Dr. Irem Boybat, IBM Research - Zurich
• Dr. Geoffrey Burr, IBM Research - Almanden
• Dr. Vijay Narayanan, IBM Research - Yorktown Heights
• Dr. Sidney Tsai, IBM Research - Almaden
• Dr. Malte J. Rasch, IBM Research - Yorktown Heights
• Dr. Nicole Saulnier, IBM Research - Albany

PRIMARY COLLABORATORS (EXTERNAL):

• Prof. Luca Benini, ETH Zürich, Switzerland
• Prof. Theodore Antonakopoulos, University of Patras, Greece
• Prof. Harish Bhaskaran, University of Oxford, UK
• Prof. Bipin Rajendran, King's College London, UK
• Prof. Wolfram Pernice, Heidelberg University, Germany
• Dr. Sergi Abadal, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Spain
• Prof. Taekwang Jang, ETH Zürich, Switzerland