# Time in dissipative tunneling: subtleties and applications

## TL;DR

This paper investigates how dissipation affects tunneling times in quantum particles, revealing counter-intuitive behaviors and applying the model to real solid-state junction data.

## Contribution

It introduces a semiclassical dissipation model for tunneling times and demonstrates its application to experimental data, highlighting novel effects of dissipation.

## Key findings

- Dissipation reduces average dwell and traversal times.
- Transmission dwell time increases with dissipation, contrary to other times.
- Energy loss during tunneling is higher at lower energies.

## Abstract

Characteristic features of tunneling times for dissipative tunneling of a particle through a rectangular barrier are studied within a semiclassical model involving dissipation in the form of a velocity dependent frictional force. The average dwell time and traversal time with dissipation are found to be less than those without dissipation. This counter-intuitive behaviour is reversed if one evaluates the physically relevant transmission dwell time. Apart from these observations, we find that the percentage of energy lost by the tunneling particle is higher for smaller energies. The above observations are tested and confirmed in a realistic case by applying the dissipation model to study the current-voltage data in a Al/Al$_2$O$_3$/Al solid state junction at various temperatures. The friction coefficient for Al$_2$O$_3$ as a function of temperature is presented. It is found to decrease with increasing temperature.