Interaction With a Potential Barrier

• A sudden increase in potential energy characterizes a barrier.
• A potential step occurs when the potential energy does not drop back down, in contrast to a thin wall potential.
• The relative magnitude of the particle's kinetic energy and the barrier's potential energy as well as the thickness of the barrier determine the efficiency with which the particle is reflected from or transmitted through the barrier.
• A particle with kinetic energy which is less than the potential energy of the barrier can still penetrate the thin wall and "tunnel" through because of quantum phenomena.
• A particle with more kinetic energy than the potential energy of the barrier is reflected from the barrier with a varying efficiency which depends upon the thickness of the barrier. The thin wall thickness which give rise to an enhanced transmission gives rise to "resonant scattering" of the incoming particle.