Particlein1DFinitePotentialWell

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5.2Particlein1DFinitePotentialWell
5.2.1SchrdingerEquationforaParticleEnergy

Potential

GeneralSolution,TransmissionCoefficient
ComparisonofResultsofQuantumMechanicalandClassicalCases
Aparticleofmass withpositiveenergy
ofdepth andwidth locatedbetween
Fig.Afinitesquarewellofdepth

isincidentfromtheleftonaonedimensionalfinitesquarewell
and

andwidth .Aparticleofenergy

,isscatteredbythewell

Thexaxisisdividedintothreeregions.IneachregionthetimeindependentSchrdingerequationtakesthe
generalform

Region1,
Region2,
Region3,

(1)

,where

,where
,where

and
.

Thesolutionineachregionis

for

for

for

where

Region1,

.Region2,

,Region3

,(2)

,(3)

,(4)

and arearbitraryconstants,ThewavenumberinRegion1andRegion3isthe

sameandequalto (asthepotentialenergyfunctionisthesame)andthatinRegion2is .Theyaregivenby

and

(5)

Thetermsinthegeneralsolutiongiveninequations(24)maybeinterpretedasfollows
IncidentwaveThefirstterm
directionfor
,withspeed
probabilityfluxisgivenby
ReflectedwaveTheterm
waveinRegion1
probabilityfluxisgivenby

in

inEqn2representsawavetravelinginthepositivex
.ItrepresentstheincidentwaveinRegion1.Theincident

in
inEqn2canbeinterpretedasrepresentingthereflected
.Thiswavetravelstotheleftwithspeed
.Thereflected
.

TransmittedwaveTheterm
in
inEqn4representsthetransmittedwaveinRegion3
.Thiswavetravelstotherightwithspeed
.Thetransmittedprobabilityflux
.
Thereisnosecondtermontherightofequationfor
cannotexist,
.

asawavemovingtowardsleftintheregion3

Thevaluesoftheconstants
and canbeevaluatedusingthecontinuityboundaryconditions.Since
thepotentialenergyfunctionisfiniteeverywhere,
and
mustbecontinuouseverywhere.
Continuityof
and
at
impliesthat

(6)

whilecontinuityof

(7)

and

at

gives

(8)

(9)

Theincidentprobabilityflux

andtransmittedprobabilityflux

and

aregivenby

(10)

Therequiredtransmissioncoefficientisgivenby

Thearbitraryconstants
aredeterminedbysolvingsimultaneousequations(24)inordertofind
theratio
.MultiplyingEquation6by andaddingtheresulttoEquation7, iseliminated

MultiplyingEquation8by

(11)

andaddingtheresulttoEquation9, isobtained

MultiplyingEquation8by

.(12)

andsubtractingtheresultfromEquation9 isobtained

(13)

Inthismannerthevaluesoftheconstants
and canbeevaluatedandthepreciseformofthe
functions
inthethreeregionscanbewritten.Mainpointsareasfollows
1.Ineachofthethreeregions,

isaperiodicfunctionof .

2.Thewavelength issmallerinsidethanoutsidethewell.Theshorterwavelengthcorrespondstoahigher
wavenumber andhighermomentum.Itissimilartotheincreaseinspeedthataclassicalparticleexperiences
asitenterstheregionofthewell.
3.Theamplitudeofthewaveissmallerinsidethewellthanoutside.Thisisbecausetheparticlemovesmore
speedilyinsidethewell,
Figure:Graphsof(a)therealpart

ProbabilityDensityof

forfinitesquarewell

SubstitutingEquations12&13intoEquation11andrearranging,theformulafor

(14)

Theexpressionfor involvesonly
expressionfor canbewrittenas

and .Byexpressing and intermsof

Treating
thegraph

and

the

(15)

asanindependentvariableand

asagivenconstant, against

,isplottedasshownin

Figure:Thetransmissioncoefficient foraparticleofenergy scatteringfromafinitesquarewellof

depth ,plottedagainst
.(fortheelectroninthewellwithdepthof8.6eVandawidthof1.0nm)
thepoints and representthewallsofthewell
Astheincidentenergyisincreasedsignificantlyabove (thetopofthewell),transmissionbecomesrelatively
morelikely,butthereisgenerallysomeprobabilityofreflection
,andforsomeenergies
thereflectionprobabilitymaybequitehigh.However,itisalsoseenthattherearesomespecialincident
particleenergiesatwhich
,i.e.transmissionoccursdefinitely.Thesepeaksofhightransmissionare
usuallycalledastransmissionmaximaorresonances.Equation15showsthattransmissionmaximaor
resonancesoccurwhen
,thatiswhen

for

16)

Usingtherelationship
betweenwavenumberandwavelength,theconditionforresonanceis
expressedas
inotherwords:Atransmissionmaximumorresonanceoccurswhenawhole
numberofwavelengthsisequaltothefullpathlength ofawavethatcrossesthewidthofthewellandis
reflectedbackagain.
Thisconditioncanbeinterpretedintermsoftheinterferencebetweenthewavesreflectedat
and
.Sincethereflectionatthe
interfaceisaccompaniedbyaphasechangeof ,theinterference
turnsouttobedestructive.Themorethereflectedwaveissuppressed,themorethetransmittedwaveis
enhanced.Thisissimilartotheeffectoccurringintheantireflectivecoatingsonlensesandmirrorswhere
reflectionissuppressedduetothedestructiveinterferencebetweenthewavesreflectedfromthefrontandback
surfacesofathintransparentfilm.
5.2.2SchrdingerequationforParticleEnergy

Potential

SolutionsOutsideWell,SolutionsInsideWell,BoundaryConditions
SymmetricandAntisymmetricWavefunctions
SolutionsbyGraphicalMethod
EnergyEigenValuesforEvenandOddParitySolutions
ComparisonofResultsofQuantumMechanicalandClassicalCases

Thefinitepotentialwellisanextensionoftheinfinitepotentialwell.Themaindifferencebetweenthesetwo
systemsisthattheparticleinfinitewellhasanonzeroprobabilityoffindingitselfoutsidethewell,although
itskineticenergyislessthanzero.
Aparticleofmass withenergy movingalongpositivexaxisisincidentonaonedimensionalfinite
squarewellofdepth andwidth locatedbetween
and
Intheboundstate,
(since cannotbelowerthantheabsoluteminimumofthepotential.
TheSchrdingerequationforthethreeregionsisgivenby

Region2

Regions1and3

(insidethewell):

(1)

(outsidewell):

(2)

wherethebindingenergy, oftheparticleis
.ThewavenumberinRegion2is. andthatin
Region1andRegion3isthesameandequalto (asthepotentialenergyfunctionisthesameinregions1and
3).Theyaredefinedas

and

(3)

Fig.Particleinafinitepotentialwellintheboundstate,
ThesolutionsoftheSchrdingerequationformtwoclasses.Withtheapplicationoftheboundaryconditions,
thefirstclassofwavefunction
inthe3regionsisgivenas

(4)

Thewavefunctionissymmetrici.e.
parityofwavefunctionis

forall .Itishavingevenparityorthe

Thesecondclassofwavefunction

inthreeregionsisgivenas

(5)

Thewavefunctionisantisymmetrici.e.
wavefunctionis

.Itishavingoddparityortheparityof

Theeigenfunctionsinsidethepotentialwellarecosineorsinefunctionsandoutsidethewallboundary
exponentiallydecayingfunctions.Theymatchattheboundary.
EnergyEigenvalues
Thoughthepotentialishavingdiscontinuousnatureat
,thewavefunctionanditsderivativeare
continuous.Theserequirementsprovidetheboundaryconditionstodeterminetheenergiesasfollows
and

O=Oddin

Evenin

isderivativeof .

Theboundaryconditionsappliedtoevenwavefunctions(Eqn.4)yieldtheequations

(6)

Thesecanbecombinedtogivetheeveneigenvaluecondition(whichdependsontheenergiesbutnotonthe
constants and )asfollows

(7)

Theboundaryconditionswhenappliedtooddwavefunctions(Eqn.5)yieldtheequationswhichcanbe
combinedtogiveoddeigenvalueconditionasfollows

(8)

Theseevenandoddeigenvalueconditionsaretranscendentalequationsintermsofthewavenumbers
whichcontain(quantitiese.g.
and)asingleunknown withknownparameterse.g.mass of
particle,depth andwidth ofpotential.Thesolutionsofequationsarethepermittedvaluesofthetotal
energy oftheparticlewhicharetheeigenvaluesfortheeigenfunctionsoftheevenandoddclassofwave
functionsrespectively.Theenergylevelsoftheboundstatesarefoundbysolvingthesetranscendental
equations,eithergraphicallyornumerically.Forsolvingbygraphicalmethod,thevariablesinequationsare
changedtodimensionlessvariablesasfollows

(9)

(10)

(11)

Equation(11)representsacircleofradius inthe
valuesof
and .

plane.Theradiusofthecircleisfixedupbythe

Uponsubstitutionofthesequantities,thetranscendentalequationsbecome
evenstates:

oddstates:

(12)

Bygraphicalmethodtheenergylevelsaredeterminedfromthepointsofintersectionofcurvesrepresenting
transcendentalequations(12)withthecircleofradius (Eqn.10)
Fig.Graphsofcurvesdepictingconditionswithcirclesofradius givingenergylevelsfor even odd
states
Forevensolutionsthevariationof
Tan

canbeplottedgraphicallyusing

for

Tan riseswithincreasein

for

Thegraphhasinfinitenumberofbranches.
Foroddsolutionsthevariationof

canbeshowngraphicallyusing

for
Function

risesto

withincreasein

for

Thegraphhasinfinitenumberofbranches.
Forevenclassofsolutionstheallowedvaluesofenergycorrespondtothepointsof
intersectionofthecurves

andthecirclerepresentedby

Foroddclassofsolutionstheallowedvaluesofenergycorrespondtothepointsof
intersectionofthecurves

andthecirclerepresentedby

Eachpointofintersectioncorrespondstooneallowedenergy.
Correspondingtoeachenergyeigenvaluethereisoneeigenfunction.i.e.theboundstateenergylevelsare
nondegenerate.
TheNumberofEnergyEigenvalues

Thenumberofpointsofintersectiondependsupontheradiusofthecircle

.Therefore

thenumberofallowedenergyvaluesalsodependsupon
and .Forcountingthenumberof
energylevelsthepointsofintersectioninthefirstquadrantof
planeonlyhavetobeconsideredas and
mustbepositivebydefinition.Itistobenotedthatitisnotpossibletowriteananalyticalexpressionfor
energy .Actualvaluesofenergyaretobedeterminedbyusingsuitablenumericalmethods.

If

i.e.

or

thentherewillbeonlyonepointof

intersectionandonlyoneenergyeigenvalue.

If

i.e.

or

thentherewillbetwo

pointsofintersectionandonlytwoenergyeigenvalues.
Onepointofintersectionofthecircleiswiththecurve
.Thiscorrespondstooneenergy
eigenvalue.Thecorrespondingeigenfunctionwillbeofevenparity.Otherpointofintersectionofthecircleis
withthecurve
.Thiscorrespondstootherenergyeigenvalue.Thecorrespondingeigenfunction
willbeofoddparity.
Thusnumberofenergyeigenvaluescanbedeterminedfromnumberofpointsofintersectioni.e.knowledge
of
and .Actualenergyeigenvaluescanbedeterminedfromsuitablenumericalmethods.
Foragivenpotentialwellonlyarestrictednumberofallowedvaluesoftotalenergy arepresent.i.e.the
eigenvaluesoftheboundstatesoftheparticlearediscrete.

Thenumberofeigenvaluesthatwillbeboundinthewelldependsonthevalueof
Theboundstateenergylevelsarefinite,butincreasewithoutboundas increases.Deeperand/orwiderthe
potential,largerthenumberofboundstates.
Theeigenvaluecorrespondingtothegroundstateisboundfirst.Itisofevenparity.Eigenvalues
correspondingtohigherboundstateshavealternatingoddandevenparity.
Fortheregionofthewellastheenergyoftheeigenvalueincreases,thecurvatureofthesinusoidalpartofthe
eigenfunctionandthenumberofitsoscillationsincreaseandthewavenumber. increasesas isproportional
to
.
Intheregionsoutsidethewelli.e.intheclassicallyexcludedregionsthelowertheenergyoftheeigenvalue,
thecorrespondingeigenfunctiondecaysmorerapidlyasthewavenumber isproportionalto
Case1
Classicalcase
Supposetheparticleismovinginpositive directionfromregion1.Whentheparticleentersregion2,the
potentialdecreasesfrom
to
.Thereforethekineticenergyincreases.Asparticlecrossesinto
region3,thekineticenergyfallsduetotheriseinpotentialenergy.

Thephenomenonofreflectionortransmissionatthewallsofwellisabsent.
QuantumMechanicalparticle
Thewavelengthofwaveissmallerinsidethewellthanoutside.Theshorterwavelengthcorrespondstoa
higherwavenumber,highervelocityandmomentumwhichissimilartotheclassicalcase
Thephenomenonofpartialreflectionorpartialtransmissionatthewallsofwellisobservedsothat
.
Case2
Classicalcase
Supposetheparticleisinitiallyinregion2withtotalenergy
.Intheregion2,
Thereforetotal
energy consistsofonlykineticenergy.Theparticlewillbepermanentlytrappedinthepotentialwell.The
particlecannotbefoundinregion1or3for
.
QuantumMechanicalparticle
Theparticlewavefunctionisfoundinallthreeregions.Itisoscillatoryinthewellandexponentially
decayingoutsidethewell.Itimpliesthatthereisfiniteprobabilityoffindingtheparticleintheclassically
forbiddenregion.
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