Past exam of the physics A course of the University of Cambridge / 2012 / Paper 1 / Section C / C11 / a

In a finite potential barrier with $E<V$, the stationary Schrödinger equation has exponentially decaying and growing solutions, with local decay constant $\kappa =\sqrt{2m(V-E)}/\hslash$. Matching the wavefunction and its derivative at finite steps produces a transmitted probability current even though a classical particle at that energy could not cross. energy remains conserved. For a smooth thick barrier, the leading WKB transmission factor isFor a rectangular barrier of height $V_0$, width $d$ and $0<E<V_0$, exact matching gives $T=[1+V_0^2{\sinh }^2(\kappa d)/(4E(V_0-E)){]}^{-1}$. Thickness and energy therefore affect transmission exponentially in the opaque limit; prefactors and near-turning-point corrections require more than the leading exponent.

alpha decay illustrates escape from a nuclear well through a Coulomb barrier. A rough decay rate is an internal encounter frequency times barrier penetrability, multiplied by the probability of forming the outgoing cluster; penetrability alone is not a complete nuclear lifetime calculation. In a scanning tunnelling microscope, electron transmission through the vacuum gap gives an approximately exponential distance dependence $I\propto e^{-2\kappa d}$ at fixed conditions. A feedback loop adjusts tip height to maintain current, providing surface information. Bias, tip electronic structure and local electronic density of states also affect the current, so constant-current height is not purely geometric topography. Both applications exploit the same sensitivity of transmission to a classically forbidden region.