PH2030 HW#5

1) (double credit) An electron is trapped in a one-dimensional box of finite walls 5 eV high and 1 nm apart. (a)
Go to the website http://www.falstad.com/qm1d/ and look at the wave function. Choose View
Values/Dimensions to see the values used in the calculation. Make sure the mass is for an electron and then
change the well depth and width to match the present problem. How many states are there? For each state, give
the electron energy. (b) The simulation of part (a) is done for a well of negative potential energy equal to the
well depth whereas the equations on the equation sheet are for walls of height equal to the well depth. To
translate from the website solution to that the equation sheet, the height of the walls must be added to the
electron energies. Calculate these energies from the answers to part (a). (c) Using the energies of part (b) as
starting guesses, use the equation on the equation sheet to find more exact electron energies. This equation must
be solved iteratively. Using these energies, draw an energy level diagram for the electron system. (d) Using the
energy levels of part (c), calculate all possible photon energies that can be emitted by an electron jumping
bound states in this system. Hint: there are six. How many of these photons fall in the visible spectrum? What
color are they? (e) Using the energies of part (c) calculate the wave number
for 0     for each state. Use
these values to calculate the corresponding electron wavelength for each state. Then use the wavelengths to
sketch the wave function for each state for     2. You may also view the solutions on the website. The
wave functions appear as a yellow line when you click the energies. However, there are no axes shown there. (f)
Calculate the constants  and for the ground state. Then use the wave function solution on the equation sheet
to calculate the probability the electron is in the region   0. (g) Repeat part (f) for state 4. Does the electron
in state 4 spend more time out of the box than the electron in the ground state? Why or why not? (h) Using the
fact that the probability the electron is in the region 
 is the same as the probability the electron is in the
region   0, calculate the probability the electron is inside the box for the ground state and state 4.
2) An electron of energy 3 eV is incident on a step potential of height 2 eV. (a) Calculate the electron wave
number and wavelength outside the potential and inside the potential. (b) Calculate the probability the electron
is reflected from the step. (c) Calculate the probability the electron enters the potential. (d) Use the equations on
the equation sheet to sketch the wave function outside and inside the potential in the region
3 nm    3 nm.
3) An electron of energy 1.5 eV is incident on a finite potential barrier of height 2 eV and width 1 nm. (a) Using
the equation on your equation sheet, calculate the probability the electron will pass through the barrier. (b)
Calculate the probability the electron will be reflected from the barrier. (c) Calculate the exponential decay
constant  of the wave function inside the barrier. Then calculate the ratio of the amplitude of the wave function
at    to the amplitude at   0,   . Compare the square of this number (the formula given in the
textbook) to the answer to part (a). (d) Repeat parts (a) –(c) for double the width barrier. Comment on the result.
4) An electron of energy 2.5 eV is incident on a finite potential barrier of height 2 eV and width 1 nm. (a) Using
the equation on your equation sheet, calculate the probability the electron will pass through the barrier. (b)
Calculate the probability the electron will be reflected from the barrier. (c) For a slightly smaller electron
energy, there is a 100% probability the electron will pass through the barrier. This can be seen by setting   1
in the equation. Calculate the electron wavelength inside the barrier for this condition. Then calculate / and
the electron energy. This corresponds to a resonance of the electron inside the barrier. (d) What is the
fundamental reason the transmission coefficient is so much higher in this problem than in the very similar
problem 3?

R. Mett 9 January ‘11