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Canadian Journal of Physics

Quantum mechanical versus quasi-classical tunneling times for smooth potential barriers

Mark R. A. Shegelski, Erik V. Kozijn

Published Mar 1, 2003• 3 citations
Publisher

Abstract

For smooth potential barriers, we compare the quasi-classical tunneling time with an expression that gives a fully quantum mechanical tunneling time. The expression we choose for the quantum mechanical tunneling time is one that has heuristic value. We report results wherein this quantum mechanical tunneling time and the quasi-classical time differ significantly, both quantitatively and qualitatively. To determine the reasons for these differences, we compare the trends in the two times that result from varying the potential. Our findings suggest that, for smooth potential barriers, the quasi-classical tunneling time is unreliable for many cases where it is employed. PACS Nos.: 03.65Xp, 03.65-w

DOI
10.1139/p03-046

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For smooth potential barriers, we compare the quasi-classical tunneling time with an expression that gives a fully quantum mechanical tunneling time. The expression we choose for the quantum mechanical tunneling time is one that has heuristic value. We report results wherein this quantum mechanical tunneling time and the quasi-classical time differ significantly, both quantitatively and qualitatively. To determine the reasons for these differences, we compare the trends in the two times that result from varying the potential. Our findings suggest that, for smooth potential barriers, the quasi-classical tunneling time is unreliable for many cases where it is employed. PACS Nos.: 03.65Xp, 03.65-w
We compare the exact tunneling time with the quasi-classical tunneling time for idealized potentials. We examine three one-dimensional cases where the potential is chosen to have a simple form. In each case, the exact tunneling time and the quasi-classical time differ significantly. In one case, the two differ in magnitude by a factor of about ten. In another case, the two differ not only quantitatively, but qualitatively as well. A discussion is given as to why the two times are significantly different, and suggestions for further inquiries are made. PACS Nos.: 03.65Xp, 03.65-w
Various approaches have been used to calculate the quantum-mechanical tunneling time through potential barriers including the phase-delay method first introduced by Bohm and Wigner, Buttiker's analysis of the Larmor clock and its generalization, the dwell time of Smith, and numerical studies of wavepacket propagation through potential barriers among others. Most of those previous estimates have only dealt with the tunneling time through simple obstacles, including delta-potential scatterers and simple rectangular barriers under zero bias condition. Even for these simple cases, the agreement among the various estimates is far from being satisfactory. In this manuscript, the transmission line technique is employed to solve the time-dependent Schrodinger equation and an expression of the quantum-mechanical tunneling time is derived for an arbitrary potential profile under non zero bias condition. An exact analytical expression of the tunneling time through a rectangular barrier is derived and shown to be identical to the one obtained recently by Spiller et. al. using the Bohm's quantum potential approach. The tunneling time through resonant tunneling structures under zero bias is also calculated and is shown to be minimum at the quasi-boundstate energy. Finally, the quantum-mechanical tunneling time through the emitter-base junction of a typical heterojunction bipolar transistor is shown to be larger than its semiclassical counterpart.
The precise definition and physical interpretation of a tunneling time is a fundamental problem in quantum mechanics. The lack of a well-defined time operator in quantum theory precludes the calculation of time in terms of an expectation value. Consequently, model calculations and simulation studies have been proposed and used to determine the time for a particle to traverse a quantum-mechanical barrier. The results offer both qualitatively and quantitatively, disparate predictions. One of the more commonly used approaches is the phase method, which we have applied to several one-dimensional model potentials to show that the tunneling time is characterized by the ratio of the typical decay length in the barrier to the incident velocity, τ∼(1/κ)/v0. We also show that the phase and the spin precession methods are equivalent when the magnetic field is applied throughout the space containing the particle wave function and the tunneling barrier. In principle, the spin precession method can be regarded as an operational definition of the tunneling time. It also has been shown that a tunneling time can be defined operationally for a time-dependent barrier, for which the model calculations predict a tunneling time given by the mean barrier width divided by the magnitude of the imaginary velocity of the particle in the barrier, τ∼d/‖v‖. This pseudokinematic result has been inferred by magnetic field dependent tunneling through heterostructures and computer simulation of wave packet tunneling through one-dimensional square barriers. Other tunneling time theories predict one or the other of the above mentioned characteristic times; several theories predict both. We interpret these different results for τ to mean that a tunneling time is not uniquely defined as a function of particle energy and the barrier shape unless the process in which the tunneling is involved is also specified. That is, the tunneling time is a meaningful and unique concept only for particular tunneling processes or definite operational procedures.
A variety of different theoretical procedures have been used to determine tunneling times. These include (1) phase time; (2) the Stevens procedure; (3) Larmor times; (4) a complex “time”; (5) dwell time; (6) the Büttikker-Landauer time; (7) Feynman path-integrals; (8) scattering theory; (9) a stochastic formulation; (10) oscillatory perturbation of the barrier; (11) kinetic time; and (12) the semiclassical solution. Interest in tunneling times is not purely pedagogical, since correction for changes in image potential during transit is required in determining the conductance of several new high-speed semiconductor devices. A new procedure to evaluate transit time is presented, which assumes that energy fluctuations keep a tunneling particle above the barrier while transiting the classically forbidden region. For large rectangular barriers, the most probable fluctuations minimize the product of their magnitude and the transit time. This results in the semiclassical solution. For the case of very small barriers, there is a separate solution in which the transit time is indeterminate but bounded. The new solution is compared with 12 different results by others. Numerical values, limiting forms, and interpretations are presented for these various tunneling times. Difficulties in using time domain numerical solutions to determine the transit time for a wave packet will also be described. © 1992 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
The total delay time for a particle tunnelling through a non-rectangular potential barrier is calculated as an explicit function of the potential energy U(x), on a rigorous mathematical basis. The resulting expression is valid for sufficiently smooth potentials. It represents a physically well defined quantity that is measured in the experiment directly. In particular, an explicit expression for the tunnelling time related to the potential is obtained. It is valid if the particle's wavelength, taken far away from the barrier, is small compared with the barrier's effective length l, irrespective of the value of the barrier penetration integral. Exact sufficient conditions for the validity of Connor's parabolic connection formulae are established.