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Particle in A 1-d Box: Region I Region II Region III

This document discusses several key concepts relating to quantum mechanics and particle behavior: 1) It describes the quantum mechanical model of a particle in a 1-dimensional infinite square well potential and shows the allowed energy levels and wavefunctions. 2) It calculates the probability of finding a particle in the ground state of the well within the central third region. 3) It discusses the expectation value of position for a particle in the 1D well and finds it to be in the center. 4) Additional topics covered include potential steps and barriers, tunneling, the particle in a box model applied to semiconductor nanoparticles, and scanning tunneling microscopy.

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Tara Vishin
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39 views

Particle in A 1-d Box: Region I Region II Region III

This document discusses several key concepts relating to quantum mechanics and particle behavior: 1) It describes the quantum mechanical model of a particle in a 1-dimensional infinite square well potential and shows the allowed energy levels and wavefunctions. 2) It calculates the probability of finding a particle in the ground state of the well within the central third region. 3) It discusses the expectation value of position for a particle in the 1D well and finds it to be in the center. 4) Additional topics covered include potential steps and barriers, tunneling, the particle in a box model applied to semiconductor nanoparticles, and scanning tunneling microscopy.

Uploaded by

Tara Vishin
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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V(x)=0 V(x)=

V(x)=
0 L x
Region I
Region II Region III
V(x)=0 for L>x>0
V(x)= for xL, x0
Particle in a 1-d Box
L
x n
L
II
t
sin
2
=
2
2
sin
2
|
.
|

\
|
=
L
x n
L
II
t

n = 1
n =2
n = 3
n = 4
n = 1
n = 2
n = 3
n = 4
Wave functions and Probability of particle position
Specifically, we have






which approaches zero as n .
Both the level spacing and the energy increase with n,
but the energy increases faster (as n
2
), making the
energy spectrum appear to be continuous as n

Particle in a Box
What is the probability, P, of finding the particle in the
central one third of the box if it is in its ground state?

For the ground state, .

From the postulate, P is the sum of all the probabilities
of finding the particle in intervals of width dx within
the central third of the box.

This probability is given by the integral

Solving this integral,

Although we cannot predict the outcome of a single
measurement, we can predict that for 60.9% of
a large number of individual measurements,
the particle would be found in the central third of the box.

What is the expectation value of the position x
of a particle in a 1-d box?

What is the expectation value of the position x
of a particle in a 1-d box?
Note that (x) is NOT an eigenfunction of the position operator
The expectation value is given by


This is consistent with intuition, because the particle is
Equally likely to be in each half of the box.
EIGENENERGIES for
1-D BOX
EIGENSTATES for
1-D BOX
PROBABILITY
DENSITIES
Schrdinger Equation and Particle in a Box
Semiconductor Nanoparticles
Red: bigger dots!
Blue: smaller dots!
(Quantum Dots)
Determining QD energy
using the Schrdinger Equation
Core Shell
Core
Quantum
Dot
L
RED QD
L
BLUE QD
Reflection and Transmission
at a Potential Step



- Reflection and Transmission - Potential Step
- Reflection from a Potential Barrier
- Barrier Penetration (Tunneling)
http://phet.colorado.edu/en/get-phet/one-at-a-time

A Simple
Potential Step
Region 1 Region 2
CASE I : E
o
> V
In Region 1:



In Region 2:
A Simple
Potential Step
CASE I : E
o
> V
is continuous:



is continuous:
Region 1 Region 2
A Simple
Potential Step
CASE I : E
o
> V
Region 1 Region 2
Example from: http://phet.colorado.edu/en/get-phet/one-at-a-time
Quantum Electron Currents
Given a single electron of mass

that is located in space: charge density

The electron momentum corresponds to a speed
then the current density due a single electron is given by
A Simple
Potential Step
CASE I : E
o
> V
Region 1 Region 2
Coeff. of
Reflection
Coeff. of
Transmission
A Simple
Potential Step
CASE I : E
o
> V
1
1
Region 1 Region 2
A Simple
Potential Step
CASE II : E
o
< V
In Region 1:



In Region 2:
Region 1 Region 2
A Simple
Potential Step
is continuous:



is continuous:
CASE II : E
o
< V
Region 1 Region 2
A Simple
Potential Step
CASE II : E
o
< V
Total reflection Transmission must be zero
Region 1 Region 2
Quantum Tunneling Through a Thin Potential Barrier
Total Reflection at Boundary
Frustrated Total Reflection (Tunneling)
CASE II : E
o
< V
Region 1 Region 2 Region 3
In Regions 1 and 3:



In Region 2:
A Rectangular
Potential Step
for E
o
< V :
A Rectangular
Potential Step
for E
o
< V :
MOSFET: Transistor in a Nutshell
Tunneling causes thin insulating
layers to become leaky !
Conducting Channel
Conduction electron flow
Control Gate
Semiconductor
0 L
V
0
x
E
o
metal
metal
air
gap
Question: What will T be if we double the width of the gap?
Example: Barrier Tunneling
Lets consider a tunneling problem:

An electron with a total energy of E
o
= 6 eV approaches a
potential barrier with a height of
V
0
= 12 eV. If the width of the barrier is
L = 0.18 nm, what is the probability that the electron
will tunnel through the barrier?
An Application of Tunneling:
Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM)
Due to the quantum effect of barrier penetration, the
electron density of a material extends beyond its surface:


material STM tip
~ 1 nm
One can exploit this to
measure the electron
density on a materials
surface:
Sodium atoms
on metal:
STM images
Single walled
carbon nanotube:
V

E
0
STM tip
material
IBM Almaden STM of Copper
Image originally created by the IBM Corporation.

IBM Corporation. All rights reserved. This content is excluded from our Creative Commons
license. For more information, see http://ocw.mit.edu/fairuse.

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