Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:1505.03163

Hartman-Fletcher effect for array of complex barriers

Ananya Ghatak, Hasan, Mohammad, Bhabani Prasad Mandal

Published May 11, 2015• 2 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We calculate the time taken by a wave packet to tunnel through a series of complex barrier potentials using stationary phase method to show its saturation (Hartman-Fletcher effect) with number of barriers in various situations. We numerically study the effect of the coupling between the elastic and inelastic channels, width of the individual barrier, separation between the consecutive barriers on the saturation of tunneling time. Nature of HF effect has further been investigated for more realistic barriers with random inelasticity and also for emissive inelastic channels.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.1505.03163

Related papers

Sub-barrier quantum tunneling: eliminating the MacColl-Hartman paradox

Atom Zh. Muradyan

I show that the MacColl-Hartman effect, namely, the saturation of the group delay time of sub-barrier quantum tunneling as a function of the barrier width, comes from the saturating behavior of a more fundamental concept - the phase of the stationary wave function. The explanation of saturation is given based on the decomposition of the stationary wave function into the spectrum of wave numbers and formulation of the initial condition for the direction of propagation of the incident matter wave. It is also shown that the saturation plateau of MacColl and Hartman actually doesn't continue indefinitely, but has a finite length. After the plateau, the sub-barrier tunneling time monotonically increases with increasing width of the potential, and this applies both to the maximum's of the wave packet and to the average tunneling time.

arXiv:2108.03054•Aug 6, 2021•0 citations

Tunnelling time of a gaussian wave packet through two potential barriers

V. Petrillo, V. S. Olkhovsky

Abstract The resonant and non-resonant dynamies of a Gaussian quantum wave packet travelling through a double barrier system is studied as a function of the initial characteristics of the spectrum and of the parameters of the potential. The behaviour of the tunnelling time shows that there are situations where the Hartman effect occurs, while, when the resonances are dominant, and in particular for b>π/Δk (b being the inter-barrier distance and Δk the spectrum width), the tunnelling time becomes very large and the Hartman effect does not take place.

Open Physics•Sep 1, 2005•11 citations

Confronting the Hartman effect with data from frustrated total internal reflection (FTIR)

Jose C. Martinez

Over 40 years ago, Hartman noted that the tunneling time τ of a particle through a barrier becomes independent of width for thick barriers. Lately, the Hartman effect has been seen as a support for superluminal tunneling time. By interpreting the reflection and transmission amplitudes in terms of multiple reflection series, we show that τ is linear in barrier width for thin barriers and may be associated with actual traversal time; for thick barriers, τ saturates to the Hartman value because of the suppression of all but the first term of the series due to the smallness of the tunneling factor. For large widths, τ cannot be identified with the propagation time but may be associated with a time to penetrate to a characteristic depth into the barrier, which is independent of width. We discuss data from frustrated internal reflection experiments, which support this view.

Laser Physics•Jun 28, 2006•0 citations

Evolution of a wave packet scattered by a one-dimensional potential

А. Ж. Хачатрян, Al.G. Alexanyan, V. A. Khoetsyan +1 more

We consider the evolution of a wave packet that is made up of a group of the wave functions describing the stationary scattering process and tunnels through a one-dimensional potential of arbitrary form. As the main characteristics of the time difference of the tunnelling process, use is made of the propagation speed of the wave-packet maximum. We show that the known Hartman formula for the tunnelling time corresponds to the wave packet with a wavenumber-uniform spectral composition in the case, when the phase and transmission coefficient modulus dispersions are taken into account only in the linear approximation. The amplitude of the main peak of the transmitted wave intensity is proven to be independent of the tunnelling time and is determined by the transmission coefficient of the spectral component at the carrier frequency and the spectral width of the wave packet. In the limit of an infinitely wide potential barrier the amplitude of the wave-packet maximum is shown to tend to zero slower than the tunnelling time tends to its asymptotic value, i.e., indeed we deal with the paradox of an infinitely large propagation speed of a wave disturbance through the barrier.

Quantum Electronics•Jun 30, 2013•1 citation

Reevaluating the Hartman effect for field emission

Kevin L. Jensen, Andrew Shabaev, Jeanne M. Riga +3 more

An electron wave packet tunneling through a barrier has a transmission (or ``group delay'') time ${\ensuremath{\tau}}_{g}$ that, for a rectangular barrier, is commonly held to become independent of the barrier width $L$ as the width increases (the McColl-Hartman effect). In the present study, it is shown that first, the McColl-Hartman effect for a rectangular barrier is dependent upon $L$ as the Gamow tunneling factor $\ensuremath{\theta}(k)$ vanishes, and ${\ensuremath{\tau}}_{g}$ is only independent of $L$ when $\ensuremath{\theta}(k)$ is large; and second, for a triangular barrier to model field emission, although ${\ensuremath{\tau}}_{g}$ can be large for small field, it vanishes when the energy matches the barrier height.

Physical Review A•Dec 9, 2021•9 citations

Tunneling Through Two Successive Barriers and the Hartman (Superluminal) Effects

V. S. Olkhovsky, Erasmo Recami, Giovanni Salesi

We study the phenomenon of one-dimensional non-resonant tunneling through two successive potential barriers, separated by an intermediate free region R, by analyzing the relevant solutions to the Schroedinger equation. We find that the total traversal time does not depend not only on the barrier widths (the so-called 'Hartman effect'), but also on the R width: so that the effective velocity in the region R, between the two barriers, can be regarded as infinite. This agrees with the results known from the corresponding waveguide experiments, which simulated the tunnelling experiment herein considered due to the formal identity between the Schroedinger and the Helmholtz equation.

•Mar 10, 2000•0 citations
We calculate the time taken by a wave packet to tunnel through a series of complex barrier potentials using stationary phase method to show its saturation (Hartman-Fletcher effect) with number of barriers in various situations. We numerically study the effect of the coupling between the elastic and inelastic channels, width of the individual barrier, separation between the consecutive barriers on the saturation of tunneling time. Nature of HF effect has further been investigated for more realistic barriers with random inelasticity and also for emissive inelastic channels.
I show that the MacColl-Hartman effect, namely, the saturation of the group delay time of sub-barrier quantum tunneling as a function of the barrier width, comes from the saturating behavior of a more fundamental concept - the phase of the stationary wave function. The explanation of saturation is given based on the decomposition of the stationary wave function into the spectrum of wave numbers and formulation of the initial condition for the direction of propagation of the incident matter wave. It is also shown that the saturation plateau of MacColl and Hartman actually doesn't continue indefinitely, but has a finite length. After the plateau, the sub-barrier tunneling time monotonically increases with increasing width of the potential, and this applies both to the maximum's of the wave packet and to the average tunneling time.
Abstract The resonant and non-resonant dynamies of a Gaussian quantum wave packet travelling through a double barrier system is studied as a function of the initial characteristics of the spectrum and of the parameters of the potential. The behaviour of the tunnelling time shows that there are situations where the Hartman effect occurs, while, when the resonances are dominant, and in particular for b>π/Δk (b being the inter-barrier distance and Δk the spectrum width), the tunnelling time becomes very large and the Hartman effect does not take place.
Over 40 years ago, Hartman noted that the tunneling time τ of a particle through a barrier becomes independent of width for thick barriers. Lately, the Hartman effect has been seen as a support for superluminal tunneling time. By interpreting the reflection and transmission amplitudes in terms of multiple reflection series, we show that τ is linear in barrier width for thin barriers and may be associated with actual traversal time; for thick barriers, τ saturates to the Hartman value because of the suppression of all but the first term of the series due to the smallness of the tunneling factor. For large widths, τ cannot be identified with the propagation time but may be associated with a time to penetrate to a characteristic depth into the barrier, which is independent of width. We discuss data from frustrated internal reflection experiments, which support this view.
We consider the evolution of a wave packet that is made up of a group of the wave functions describing the stationary scattering process and tunnels through a one-dimensional potential of arbitrary form. As the main characteristics of the time difference of the tunnelling process, use is made of the propagation speed of the wave-packet maximum. We show that the known Hartman formula for the tunnelling time corresponds to the wave packet with a wavenumber-uniform spectral composition in the case, when the phase and transmission coefficient modulus dispersions are taken into account only in the linear approximation. The amplitude of the main peak of the transmitted wave intensity is proven to be independent of the tunnelling time and is determined by the transmission coefficient of the spectral component at the carrier frequency and the spectral width of the wave packet. In the limit of an infinitely wide potential barrier the amplitude of the wave-packet maximum is shown to tend to zero slower than the tunnelling time tends to its asymptotic value, i.e., indeed we deal with the paradox of an infinitely large propagation speed of a wave disturbance through the barrier.
An electron wave packet tunneling through a barrier has a transmission (or ``group delay'') time ${\ensuremath{\tau}}_{g}$ that, for a rectangular barrier, is commonly held to become independent of the barrier width LLL as the width increases (the McColl-Hartman effect). In the present study, it is shown that first, the McColl-Hartman effect for a rectangular barrier is dependent upon LLL as the Gamow tunneling factor $\ensuremath{\theta}(k)$ vanishes, and ${\ensuremath{\tau}}_{g}$ is only independent of LLL when $\ensuremath{\theta}(k)$ is large; and second, for a triangular barrier to model field emission, although ${\ensuremath{\tau}}_{g}$ can be large for small field, it vanishes when the energy matches the barrier height.
We study the phenomenon of one-dimensional non-resonant tunneling through two successive potential barriers, separated by an intermediate free region R, by analyzing the relevant solutions to the Schroedinger equation. We find that the total traversal time does not depend not only on the barrier widths (the so-called 'Hartman effect'), but also on the R width: so that the effective velocity in the region R, between the two barriers, can be regarded as infinite. This agrees with the results known from the corresponding waveguide experiments, which simulated the tunnelling experiment herein considered due to the formal identity between the Schroedinger and the Helmholtz equation.