1 Quantum mechanics 1 . 1 Introduction to quantum mechanics

Abstract

Before attempting to investigate theworkings of a tunnelling field-effect transistor, it is essential to be familiarwith the concept of tunnelling. Tunnelling is a quantumphenomenon,with no counterpart in the everyday physics one encounters, or the physics that one applies while dealing with devices a few hundred nanometres in length. The initial two chapterswill, therefore, help us develop an understanding of quantumphenomena. In this chapter,wewill present an introduction to the field of quantummechanics and the next chapter will discuss the phenomenon of tunnelling in detail. The chapter begins with a description of a landmark experiment that conclusively proved the wave nature of particles, after which wewill study the concept of wavefunctions and how to use Schrodinger’s equation to obtain them. A few basic problems will be presented so that the readers may familiarise themselves with basic quantum concepts.