Quantum Tunneling in a High-Frequency Field

Valery M. Genkin

Toshihiro Tanizawa

The quantum tunneling rate through an inverted parabola potential in an oscillating external field is studied. The tunneling rate is calculated within quasi-classical accuracy as a function of the frequency of the field. In this calculation, the complex-time path integral method, which has been previously applied to the case of tunneling through static potentials, is used after being appropriately extended for application to the case of tunneling through explicitly time-dependent potentials. Since the Feynman kernel for the case considered in the present paper can be exactly obtained, we are able to calculate the tunneling rate over a considerably wider range of frequencies of the oscillating field than in the case that this quantity is calculated through a perturbative treatment of the external field, as done in the previous studies. The present analysis reveals that the perturbative analysis for the present problem is insufficient even in the region where it has been considered to be appropriate. From the numerical calculation of the quasi-classical tunneling rate, we find that, as the frequency of the external field increases, all of the tunneling rates are initially enhanced by a significant amount, but beyond a certain value, all tunneling rates become rapidly decaying functions of this frequency. This fact may imply that the consideration beyond quasi-classical accuracy is needed in the high frequency regime. Tunneling processes that do not conserve energy are also considered. They cannot be neglected in this time-dependent problem, and we find that tunneling rates become large when tunneling particles acquire energy during tunneling.

Joachim Ankerhold

Gengbiao Lu, Wenhua Hai, Honghua Zhong +1 more

We investigate the coherent control of quantum tunneling for a single particle held in a driven double-well potential. For a moderate-frequency region, we demonstrate that the irregular quantum tunneling is associated with classically chaotic dynamics. A set of lower resonance-like frequencies is found, for which the coherent destruction of tunneling in the sense of the time average is illustrated numerically. For a high-frequency region, it is shown that the particle is located at the bottom of each well alternately for a long time and the time located in one well can be modulated by adjusting the driving field. The results could be useful for the experiments of controlling single-particle tunneling [see, e.g., E. Kierig, U. Schnorrberger, A. Schietinger, J. Tomkovic, and M. K. Oberthaler, Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 190405 (2008).].

Gengbiao Lu, Wenhua Hai

We investigate the tunneling dynamics of a single atom in a planar four-well potential driven by a high-frequency ac field. The quasienergy spectrum exhibits anticrossing and crossing, which are related to selective coherent destruction of tunneling (CDT) with several selectable directions. By using the CDTs of different directions, the switchlike effect is shown for the six tunneling pathways among the four wells. Applying the present results, we suggest a scheme for designing a single-atom quantum motor with the driving field as a quantum starter.