Dynamically assisted tunneling in the impulse regime


Dynamically assisted tunneling in the impulse regime

Kohlfürst, C.; Queißer, F.; Schützhold, R.

We study the enhancement of tunneling through a potential barrier V(x) by a time-dependent electric field with special emphasis on pulse-shaped vector potentials such as A(t)=A0/cosh^2(ωt). In addition to the known effects of pre-acceleration and potential deformation already present in the adiabatic regime, as well as energy mixing in analogy to the Franz-Keldysh effect in the non-adiabatic (impulse) regime, the pulse A(t) can enhance tunneling by ``pushing'' part of the wave-function out of the rear end of the barrier. Besides the natural applications in condensed matter and atomic physics, these findings could be relevant for nuclear fusion, where pulses A(t) with ω=1 keV and peak field strengths of 10^16 V/m might enhance tunneling rates significantly.

Keywords: Tunneling & traversal time; Nuclear fusion; Schroedinger equation

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-33399
Publ.-Id: 33399