2003/08/01 by Denis A. Gorokhov, Gorokhov, Denis A., Rava A. da Silveira +1
Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall) #Statistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech) #cond-mat.mes-hall #cond-mat.stat-mech
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.cond-mat/0308023
RevTeX, 4 pages, 3 eps figures inserted
arxiv created 2003/08/01 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01
The decay of metastable states is dominated by quantum tunneling at low temperatures and by thermal activation at high temperatures. The escape rate of a particle out of a square well is calculated within a semi-classical approximation and exhibits an `ultrasharp' crossover: a kink in the decay rate separates a purely quantum regime at low temperatures from a purely thermal regime at high temperatures. An experimental system -- a quantum dot supplemented by a semiconductor heterostructure -- that may be used to check the prediction, along with necessary experimental conditions, are described.