Explicit expressions are obtained for the energy dependence of the particle transmission coefficient and phase tunneling time through two rectangular barriers near resonance. The resonance half-width and the phase tunneling time for neutrons in resonance are calculated.
An explicit expression is obtained for the phase-time corresponding to tunneling of a (non-relativistic) particle through two rectangular barriers, both in the case of resonant and in the case of non-resonant tunneling. It is shown that the behavior of the transmission coefficient and of the tunneling phase-time near a resonance is given by expressions with "Breit-Wigner type" denominators. By contrast, it is shown that, when the tunneling probability is low (but not negligible), the non-resonant tunneling time depends on the barrier width and on the distance between the barriers only in a very weak (exponentially decreasing) way: This can imply in various cases, as well known, the highly superluminal tunneling associated with the so-called "generalized Hartman Effect": but we are now able to improve and modify the mathematical description of such an effect, and to compare more in detail our results with the experimental data for non-resonant tunneling of photons . Finally, as a second example, the tunneling phase-time is calculated, and compared with the available experimental results, in the case of the quantum-mechanical tunneling of neutrons through two barrier-filters at the resonance energy of the set-up. Our analysis appears to explain satisfactorily both sets of experiments.
The resonant tunneling of a wave packet is studied, for a one-dimensional double barrier, by solving the time-dependent Schrödinger equation. The transmission is determined as a function of the spatial width of the incident wave packet. It is shown that if the double barrier acts as an energy filter, then the spatial width of the transmitted wave packet is increased, due to the trapping of the particle between the two barriers for a time, ℏ/Γ, where Γ is the width of the resonance. The reflected wave packet consists of two components: one corresponding to reflection from the first barrier and the other due to the particle being trapped between the barriers for a time ℏ/Γ.
Numerical simulations of quantum tunneling with time-dependent barriers show that there is a resonance, with a marked increase in the transmission coefficient. For a raised cosine potential, and for low energies with square barriers, the resonance occurs when a modulation quantum can take a tunneling particle to the top of the barrier. For energies near the top of a square barrier the resonance may be understood by hypothesizing that a tunneling particle may travel from end to end of the barrier until it is ultimately either transmitted or reflected.
The frequency-dependent transmission coefficient of a particle tunneling through a time-dependent barrier is calculated taking into account the quantum interference effect. We consider a rectangular barrier of height V0 with a time-dependent modulation of single frequency ω. For small modulation amplitude V1, our result is exact up to order V21 for any barrier width. In the low transmission region, our result is consistent with those obtained using a semiclassical method. We find that quantum interference (two modulation quanta process) makes a significant contribution to the tunneling current. In the static approximation, ωτ≪1, where τ is the barrier transit time, the contribution to the current from interference process is to cancel one-half of the tunneling current from first-order process (one modulation quantum process). To the lowest order in power series of V1/ℏω, the tunneling current is reduced due to interference.