Introduction to the concept[edit]

Animation showing the tunnel effect and its application to an STM

Quantum tunnelling through a barrier. The energy of the tunnelled

particle is the same but the probability amplitude is decreased.

A simulation of a wave packet incident on a potential barrier. In relative

units, the barrier energy is 20, greater than the mean wave packet
energy of 14. A portion of the wave packet passes through the barrier.

Quantum tunnelling through a barrier. At the origin (x=0), there is a very

high, but narrow potential barrier. A significant tunnelling effect can be
seen.
Quantum tunnelling falls under the domain of quantum mechanics: the
study of what happens at the quantum scale. This process cannot be
directly perceived, but much of its understanding is shaped by the
microscopic world, which classical mechanics cannot adequately
explain. To understand the phenomenon, particles attempting to travel
between potential barriers can be compared to a ball trying to roll over a
hill; quantum mechanics and classical mechanics differ in their treatment
of this scenario. Classical mechanics predicts that particles that do not
have enough energy to classically surmount a barrier will not be able to
reach the other side. Thus, a ball without sufficient energy to surmount
the hill would roll back down. Or, lacking the energy to penetrate a wall,
it would bounce back (reflection) or in the extreme case, bury itself inside
the wall (absorption). In quantum mechanics, these particles can, with a
very small probability, tunnel to the other side, thus crossing the barrier.
Here, the "ball" could, in a sense, borrow energy from its surroundings to
tunnel through the wall or "roll over the hill", paying it back by making the
reflected electrons more energetic than they otherwise would have been.
[15]

The reason for this difference comes from the treatment of matter in
quantum mechanics as having properties of waves and particles. One
interpretation of this duality involves the Heisenberg uncertainty
principle, which defines a limit on how precisely the position and
the momentum of a particle can be known at the same time. [6] This
implies that there are no solutions with a probability of exactly zero (or
one), though a solution may approach infinity if, for example, the
calculation for its position was taken as a probability of 1, the other, i.e.
its speed, would have to be infinity. Hence, the probability of a given
particle's existence on the opposite side of an intervening barrier is non-
zero, and such particles will appear on the 'other' (a semantically difficult
word in this instance) side with a relative frequency proportional to this
probability.

An electron wavepacket directed at a potential barrier. Note the dim spot

on the right that represents tunnelling electrons.
Quantum tunnelling in the phase space formulation of quantum
mechanics. Wigner function for tunnelling through the potential barrier  in
atomic units (a.u.). The solid lines represent the level set of
the Hamiltonian .
The tunneling problem[edit]
The wave function of a particle summarizes everything that can be
known about a physical system.[16] Therefore, problems in quantum
mechanics center on the analysis of the wave function for a system.
Using mathematical formulations of quantum mechanics, such as
the Schrödinger equation, the wave function can be solved. The
absolute value of this wavefunction to the power of 2 is directly related to
the probability density of the particle's position, which describes the
probability that the particle is at any given place. In the limit of large
barriers, the probability of tunneling decreases for taller and wider
barriers.
For simple tunneling-barrier models, such as the rectangular barrier, an
analytic formulation and thus solution exists. In canonical field theory,
the tunneling is described by a wave function which has an amplitude
inside the tunnel; but the current is zero there because the relative
phase of the amplitude of the conjugate wave function (the time
derivative) is orthogonal to it.
Another way to look at is: The waves were always on BOTH side of the
barrier, but on the right the waves were jiggling in opposite directions.
Suppose in the moving illustration on the right, there were another
barrier further right and another wave coming FROM the right. The
waves in the middle might be stationary if the waves strike the middle at
the same time or sometimes jiggling right and sometimes jiggling left
depending on which incoming wave gets there most recently. It would be
like the proverbial steel balls on a string pendulum for which the middle
balls are stationary and the end balls take turns having the "wave"
bouncing away from the "barrier" of the balls in the middle. In like
manner, for a right moving wave, the barrier approximately doubles the
amount of the left moving wave in order to keep the wave almost zero on
the right side of the barrier.
In the 2nd moving illustration at right, you can more easily see the
Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle (HUP) at work. A relatively narrow
wave impinges on the barrier; the barrier forces it to become even taller
and even narrower. The result is: the wave becomes much more de-
localized--in fact it's now on both sides of the barrier, it's wider on each
side and lower in maximum amplitude but equal in total amplitude. In
both illustrations, the localization of the wave in space causes the
localization of the action of the barrier in time, thus scattering the
energy/momentum of the wave.
Problems in real life often do not have one, so "semiclassical" or
"quasiclassical" methods have been developed to give approximate
solutions to these problems, like the WKB approximation. Probabilities
may be derived with arbitrary precision, constrained by computational
resources, via Feynman's path integral method; such precision is seldom
required in engineering practice.[citation needed]

Related phenomena[edit]
There are several phenomena that have the same behavior as quantum
tunnelling, and thus can be accurately described by tunnelling. Examples
include the tunnelling of a classical wave-particle association,
[17]
 evanescent wave coupling (the application of Maxwell's wave-
equation to light) and the application of the non-dispersive wave-
equation from acoustics applied to "waves on strings". Evanescent wave
coupling, until recently, was only called "tunnelling" in quantum
mechanics; now it is used in other contexts.
These effects are modelled similarly to the rectangular potential barrier.
In these cases, there is one transmission medium through which
the wave propagates that is the same or nearly the same throughout,
and a second medium through which the wave travels differently. This
can be described as a thin region of medium B between two regions of
medium A. The analysis of a rectangular barrier by means of the
Schrödinger equation can be adapted to these other effects provided
that the wave equation has travelling wave solutions in medium A but
real exponential solutions in medium B.
In optics, medium A is a vacuum while medium B is glass. In acoustics,
medium A may be a liquid or gas and medium B a solid. For both cases,
medium A is a region of space where the particle's total energy is
greater than its potential energy and medium B is the potential barrier.
These have an incoming wave and resultant waves in both directions.
There can be more mediums and barriers, and the barriers need not be
discrete; approximations are useful in this case.

Applications[edit]
Tunnelling occurs with barriers of thickness around 1–3 nm and smaller,
[18]
 but is the cause of some important macroscopic physical phenomena.
For instance, tunnelling is a source of current leakage in very-large-scale
integration (VLSI) electronics and results in the substantial power drain
and heating effects that plague high-speed and mobile technology; it is
considered the lower limit on how small computer chips can be made.
[19]
 Tunnelling is a fundamental technique used to program the floating
gates of flash memory, which is one of the most significant inventions
that have shaped consumer electronics in the last two decades.
Nuclear fusion in stars[edit]
Main article: Nuclear fusion
Quantum tunneling is essential for nuclear fusion in stars. The
temperature in stars' cores is generally insufficient to allow atomic nuclei
to overcome the Coulomb barrier and achieve Thermonuclear fusion.
Quantum tunneling increases the probability of penetrating this barrier.
Though this probability is still low, the extremely large number of nuclei
in the core of a star is sufficient to sustain a steady fusion reaction for
millions, billions, or even trillions of years – a precondition for the
evolution of life in insolation habitable zones. Our sun can be treated as
an best example for this kind of tunneling effect [20]
Radioactive decay[edit]
Main article: Radioactive decay
Radioactive decay is the process of emission of particles and energy
from the unstable nucleus of an atom to form a stable product. This is
done via the tunnelling of a particle out of the nucleus (an electron
tunnelling into the nucleus is electron capture). This was the first
application of quantum tunnelling and led to the first approximations.
Radioactive decay is also a relevant issue for astrobiology as this
consequence of quantum tunnelling is creating a constant source of
energy over a large period of time for environments outside
the circumstellar habitable zone where insolation would not be possible
(subsurface oceans) or effective.[20]
Astrochemistry in interstellar clouds[edit]
By including quantum tunnelling, the astrochemical syntheses of various
molecules in interstellar clouds can be explained such as the synthesis
of molecular hydrogen, water (ice) and
the prebiotic important formaldehyde.[20]
Quantum biology[edit]
Quantum tunnelling is among the central non trivial quantum effects
in quantum biology. Here it is important both as electron tunnelling and
proton tunnelling. Electron tunnelling is a key factor in many biochemical
redox reactions (photosynthesis, cellular respiration) as well as
enzymatic catalysis while proton tunnelling is a key factor in
spontaneous mutation of DNA.[20]
Spontaneous mutation of DNA occurs when normal DNA replication
takes place after a particularly significant proton has defied the odds in
quantum tunnelling in what is called "proton tunnelling" [21] (quantum
biology). A hydrogen bond joins normal base pairs of DNA. There exists
a double well potential along a hydrogen bond separated by a potential
energy barrier. It is believed that the double well potential is asymmetric
with one well deeper than the other so the proton normally rests in the
deeper well. For a mutation to occur, the proton must have tunnelled into
the shallower of the two potential wells. The movement of the proton
from its regular position is called a tautomeric transition. If DNA
replication takes place in this state, the base pairing rule for DNA may be
jeopardised causing a mutation.[22] Per-Olov Lowdin was the first to
develop this theory of spontaneous mutation within the double helix
(quantum bio). Other instances of quantum tunnelling-induced mutations
in biology are believed to be a cause of ageing and cancer. [23]
Cold emission[edit]
Main article: Semiconductor devices
Cold emission of electrons is relevant
to semiconductors and superconductor physics. It is similar to thermionic
emission, where electrons randomly jump from the surface of a metal to
follow a voltage bias because they statistically end up with more energy
than the barrier, through random collisions with other particles. When the
electric field is very large, the barrier becomes thin enough for electrons
to tunnel out of the atomic state, leading to a current that varies
approximately exponentially with the electric field. [24] These materials are
important for flash memory, vacuum tubes, as well as some electron
microscopes.
Tunnel junction[edit]
Main article: Tunnel junction
A simple barrier can be created by separating two conductors with a very
thin insulator. These are tunnel junctions, the study of which requires
understanding of quantum tunnelling.[25] Josephson junctions take
advantage of quantum tunnelling and the superconductivity of
some semiconductors to create the Josephson effect. This has
applications in precision measurements of voltages and magnetic fields,
[24]
 as well as the multijunction solar cell.
Quantum-dot cellular automata[edit]
QCA is a molecular binary logic synthesis technology that operates by
the inter-island electron tunneling system. This is a very low power and
fast device that can operate at a maximum frequency of 15 PHz.[26]

A working mechanism of a resonant tunnelling diode device, based on

the phenomenon of quantum tunnelling through the potential barriers.
Tunnel diode[edit]
Main article: Tunnel diode
Diodes are electrical semiconductor devices that allow electric
current flow in one direction more than the other. The device depends on
a depletion layer between N-type and P-type semiconductors to serve its
purpose; when these are very heavily doped the depletion layer can be
thin enough for tunnelling. Then, when a small forward bias is applied,
the current due to tunnelling is significant. This has a maximum at the
point where the voltage bias is such that the energy level of the p and
n conduction bands are the same. As the voltage bias is increased, the
two conduction bands no longer line up and the diode acts typically. [27]
Because the tunnelling current drops off rapidly, tunnel diodes can be
created that have a range of voltages for which current decreases as
voltage is increased. This peculiar property is used in some applications,
like high speed devices where the characteristic tunnelling probability
changes as rapidly as the bias voltage.[27]
The resonant tunnelling diode makes use of quantum tunnelling in a very
different manner to achieve a similar result. This diode has a resonant
voltage for which there is a lot of current that favors a particular voltage,
achieved by placing two very thin layers with a high energy conductance
band very near each other. This creates a quantum potential well that
has a discrete lowest energy level. When this energy level is higher than
that of the electrons, no tunnelling will occur, and the diode is in reverse
bias. Once the two voltage energies align, the electrons flow like an
open wire. As the voltage is increased further tunnelling becomes
improbable and the diode acts like a normal diode again before a second
energy level becomes noticeable.[28]
Tunnel field-effect transistors[edit]
Main article: Tunnel field-effect transistor
A European research project has demonstrated field effect transistors in
which the gate (channel) is controlled via quantum tunnelling rather than
by thermal injection, reducing gate voltage from ≈1 volt to 0.2 volts and
reducing power consumption by up to 100×. If these transistors can be
scaled up into VLSI chips, they will significantly improve the performance
per power of integrated circuits.[29]
Quantum conductivity[edit]
While the Drude model of electrical conductivity makes excellent
predictions about the nature of electrons conducting in metals, it can be
furthered by using quantum tunnelling to explain the nature of the
electron's collisions.[24] When a free electron wave packet encounters a
long array of uniformly spaced barriers the reflected part of the wave
packet interferes uniformly with the transmitted one between all barriers
so that there are cases of 100% transmission. The theory predicts that if
positively charged nuclei form a perfectly rectangular array, electrons will
tunnel through the metal as free electrons, leading to an extremely
high conductance, and that impurities in the metal will disrupt it
significantly.[24]
Scanning tunnelling microscope[edit]
Main article: Scanning tunnelling microscope
The scanning tunnelling microscope (STM), invented by Gerd
Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer, may allow imaging of individual atoms on
the surface of a material.[24] It operates by taking advantage of the
relationship between quantum tunnelling with distance. When the tip of
the STM's needle is brought very close to a conduction surface that has
a voltage bias, by measuring the current of electrons that are tunnelling
between the needle and the surface, the distance between the needle
and the surface can be measured. By using piezoelectric rods that
change in size when voltage is applied over them the height of the tip
can be adjusted to keep the tunnelling current constant. The time-
varying voltages that are applied to these rods can be recorded and
used to image the surface of the conductor. [24] STMs are accurate to
0.001 nm, or about 1% of atomic diameter.[28]
Kinetic isotope effect[edit]
Main article: Kinetic isotope effect
In chemical kinetics, the substitution of a light isotope of an element with
a heavier one typically results in a slower reaction rate. This is generally
attributed to differences in the zero-point vibrational energies for
chemical bonds containing the lighter and heavier isotopes and is
generally modeled using transition state theory. However, in certain
cases, very large isotope effects are observed that cannot be accounted
for by a semi-classical treatment of kinetic isotope effects, and quantum
tunneling through the energy barrier is invoked. R. P. Bell has developed
a modified treatment of Arrhenius kinetics that is commonly used to
model this phenomenon.[30]

Faster than light[edit]

See also: Faster-than-light
Some physicists have claimed that it is possible for spin-zero particles to
travel faster than the speed of light when tunnelling.[3] This apparently
violates the principle of causality, since there will be a frame of reference
in which it arrives before it has left. In 1998, Francis E. Low reviewed
briefly the phenomenon of zero-time tunnelling. [31] More recently
experimental tunnelling time data of phonons, photons,
and electrons have been published by Günter Nimtz.[32]
Other physicists, such as Herbert Winful,[33] have disputed these claims.
Winful argues that the wavepacket of a tunnelling particle propagates
locally, so a particle can't tunnel through the barrier non-locally. Winful
also argues that the experiments that are purported to show non-local
propagation have been misinterpreted. In particular, the group velocity of
a wavepacket does not measure its speed, but is related to the amount
of time the wavepacket is stored in the barrier. But the problem remains
that the wave function still rises inside the barrier at all points at the
same time. In other words, in any region that is inaccessible to
measurement, non-local propagation is still mathematically certain.