Semiclassical theory for tunneling of electrons interacting with media

Alexander L. Burin*, Yuri A. Berlin, Mark A. Ratner

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

22 Scopus citations

Abstract

The exact semiclassical wave function for a tunneling electron, coupled to the degrees of freedom of a host medium, is constructed. This permits a description of electron dynamics within the barrier. As a specific application, the result is used to calculate the tunneling amplitude for the electron interacting with the single vibrational mode of the medium. In agreement both with experiment and with previous numerical study two regimes of tunneling, i.e., polaron-type vibronic transport and superexchange, are found depending on the relationship of the Buttikker-Landauer tunneling time and the vibrational period. The evolution of the media interacting with the tunneling particle is described.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)2652-2659
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of Physical Chemistry A
Volume105
Issue number12
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 29 2001

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Physical and Theoretical Chemistry

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