The coupled-channel method for modelling quantum transmission of composite systems

The description of quantum transmission of composite systems of barriers or wells using the coupled-channel method is presented. In this approach the multichannel scattering problem for the Schrödinger equation is reduced to a set of coupled second-order ordinary differential equations with the boundary conditions of the third type and solved using the finite element method. The efficiency of the proposed approach is demonstrated by the example of analyzing metastable states that appear in composite quantum systems tunnelling through barriers and wells and give rise to the quantum transparency and total reflection effects. © Springer International Publishing AG 2016.