Tunneling through nonstationary barriers and Euclidean resonance
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina 29208 (United States)
The phenomenon of Euclidean resonance (a strong enhancement of quantum tunneling through a nonstationary potential barrier) is applied to disintegration of atoms and molecules through tunnel barriers formed by applied constant and time-dependent electric fields. There are two different channels for such disintegration, electronic and ionic. The electronic mechanism is associated with the ionization of a molecule into an electron and a positive ion. The required frequencies are in a wide range between 100 MHz and the infrared. This mechanism may constitute a method of selective destruction of chemical bonds. The ionic mechanism consists of dissociation of a molecule into two ions. Since an ion is more massive than an electron, the necessary frequency is about 1 MHz. This provides the theoretical possibility of a different method of isotope separation by radio frequency waves.
- OSTI ID:
- 20646002
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review. A, Vol. 70, Issue 3; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.70.032110; (c) 2004 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1050-2947
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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