A. F. J. Levi Explained

Anthony Levi
Birth Date:	February 3, 1959
Birth Place:	London, United Kingdom
Nationality:	American
Fields:	Physics Electrical Engineering
Workplaces:	Bell Laboratories University of Southern California
Alma Mater:	University of Sussex University of Cambridge
Known For:	Microdisk nanolaser Hot electron transport Optimal semiconductor device design

A.F.J. (Tony) Levi (born 1959) is a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering of the University of Southern California (USC).

Academic career

Levi received his doctoral degree from the University of Cambridge in 1983. From January 1984 he was a member of the technical staff at Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill, New Jersey. He left Bell Laboratories in May 1993 to take up a professorial post at the University of Southern California.

Research

Levi has published research on experimental semiconductor device physics, including the experimental realization of the microdisk laser^{[1] [2]} for the study of semiconductor lasers at the nanoscale. He has published on hot electron spectroscopy in semiconductors,^[3] ballistic electron transport in heterostructure bipolar transistors,^[4] room temperature operation of unipolar transistors with ballistic electron transport,^[5] and optimal design of small electronic and photonic systems.^[6] He is also author of the textbook Applied Quantum Mechanics,^{[7] [8]} currently in its third edition. Levi's research has led to the development of new technologies, including advances in optical interconnect and x-ray imaging applications.

Working with Agilent Technologies, Levi co-developed an optical connector plug-in package capable of transmitting data at an aggregate rate of 10 Gb/s in late 2000.^[9]

Working with the Paul Scherrer Institute and researchers at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, Levi helped advance a non-destructive form of scanning and imaging computer chips known as ptychographic x-ray laminography. In principle, such a technique allows for defect detection in manufactured chips as well as for reverse engineering of hardware-embedded circuit design.^{[10] [11]}

In an interview with Reuters, Levi commented on supply chain concerns facing the chip industry in the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic, suggesting that such issues could be mitigated by focusing on rebuilding the U.S. chip manufacturing and packaging industry.^[12]

Notable Talks

• 2022 Plenary talk Chip Scan: 3D X-Ray Imaging of CMOS Integrated Circuits, PSW Science^[13]

Publications

• Levi, A. F. J.; Hayes, J. R.; Platzman P. M.; Wiegmann, W. (1985-11-04). “Injected Hot Electron Transport in GaAs” Physical Review Letters. American Physical Society (APS). 55 (19): 2071-2073.
• Levi, A. F. J.; Chiu, T. H. (1987-09-28). “Room Temperature Operation of Hot Electron Transistors” Applied Physics Letters. American Institute of Physics (AIP). 51 (13): 984-986.
• Levi, A. F. J. (1988-09-29). “Scaling ‘Ballistic’ Heterojunction Bipolar Transistors” Electronics Letters. Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE). 24 (20): 1273-1275.
• Berthold, K.; Levi, A. F. J.; Walker, J.; Malik, R. J. (1988-06-27). “Extreme Nonequilibrium Electron Transport in Heterojunction Bipolar Transistors” Applied Physics Letters. American Institute of Physics (AIP). 52 (26): 2247-2249.
• Gelfand, B. Y.; S. Schmitt-Rink S.; Levi. A. F. J. (1989-04-03). “Tunneling in the Presence of Phonons: A Solvable Model” Physical Review Letters. American Physical Society (APS). 62 (14): 1683-1686.
• Chuang, S. L.; Schmitt-Rink, S.; Greene, B. I.; Saeta, P. N.; Levi, A. F. J. (1992-01-06). “Optical rectification at semiconductor surfaces” Physical Review Letters. American Physical Society (APS).  68 (1): 102-105.  
• McCall, S. L.; Levi, A. F. J.; Slusher, R. E.; Pearton, S. J.; Logan, R. A. (1992-01-20). “Whispering-gallery mode microdisk lasers” Applied Physics Letters. American Institute of Physics (AIP). 60 (3): 289-291.
• Seliger, P.; Mahvash, M.; Wang, C.; Levi, A. F. J. (2006-08-08). “Optimization of aperiodic dielectric structures” Journal of Applied Physics. American Institute of Physics (AIP). 100 (3) 034310-(1-6).
• Levi, A. F. J.; Rosen, G. (2010-01-15). “A novel formulation of the adjoint method in the design of quantum electronic devices” SIAM Journal on Control and Optimization. Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM). 48 (5): 3191-3223.
• Levi, A. F. J.; Campos Venuti, L.; Albash, T.; Haas, S. (2014-08-24). “Coherent control of non-Markovian photon resonator dynamics” Physical Review A. American Physical Society (APS). 90 (2): 022119.

Books

• Levi, A.F.J. (2023). “Applied Quantum Mechanics” (Third ed.). Cambridge University Press,
• Levi, A.F.J. (2020). “Essential Electron Transport for Device Physics”. AIP Publishing,
• Levi, A.F.J. (2018). “Essential Semiconductor Laser Device Physics”. IOP Concise Physics. Morgan & Claypool Publishers.
• Levi, A.F.J. (2016). “Essential Classical Mechanics for Device Physics”. IOP Concise Physics. Morgan & Claypool Publishers.

References

1. McCall, S. L.; Levi, A. F. J.; Slusher, R. E.; Pearton, S. J.; Logan, R. A. (1992-01-20). “Whispering-gallery mode microdisk lasers” Applied Physics Letters. American Institute of Physics (AIP). 60 (3): 289-291.
2. Levi . Barbara G. . September 1992 . What's the Shape of Things to Come in Semiconductor Lasers? . Physics Today . 45 . 9 . 17–18 . 10.1063/1.2809793. 1992PhT....45i..17L .
3. Levi, A. F. J.; Hayes, J. R.; Platzman P. M.; Wiegmann, W. (1985-11-04). “Injected Hot Electron Transport in GaAs” Physical Review Letters. American Physical Society (APS). 55 (19): 2071-2073.
4. Berthold, K.; Levi, A. F. J.; Walker, J.; Malik, R. J. (1988-06-27). “Extreme Nonequilibrium Electron Transport in Heterojunction Bipolar Transistors” Applied Physics Letters. American Institute of Physics (AIP). 52 (26): 2247-2249.
5. Levi, A. F. J.; Chiu, T. H. (1987-09-28). “Room Temperature Operation of Hot Electron Transistors” Applied Physics Letters. American Institute of Physics (AIP). 51 (13): 984-986.
6. Levi, A. F. J.; Haas, S. (2010-01-29). “Optimal Device Design” Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
7. Frensley . William R. . January 2005 . Applied Quantum Mechanics . Physics Today . 58 . 1 . 55–56 . 10.1063/1.1881905. free . 2005PhT....58a..55L .
8. Levi, A. F. J. (2023). “Applied Quantum Mechanics” (Third ed.). Cambridge University Press,
9. News: Savage . Neil . August 1, 2002 . Linking With Light . IEEE Spectrum .
10. News: October 8, 2019 . Groundbreaking Method Detects Defective Computer Chips . USC Viterbi News .
11. News: October 11, 2019 . Technique Could Check Integrity of Computer Chips and Detect Tampering . Technology Networks .
12. News: Nellis . Stephen . Jin . Hyunjoo . April 13, 2021 . Focus: Biden's chip dreams face reality check of supply chain complexity . Reuters .
13. Web site: November 18, 2022 . Chip Scan: 3D X-Ray Imaging of CMOS Integrated Circuits . PSW Science.

External links

• USC faculty page
• AFJ Levi research group website at USC
• Philosophical Society of Washington Lecture: Chip Scan: 3D X-Ray Imaging of CMOS Integrated Circuits - Can you trust the electronics you use?