Tunneling between double wells of atom in crossed electromagnetic fields

The tunneling between double wells of atom in crossed electromagnetic fields is investigated by a one-dimensional Hamiltonian model. The crossed fields induced outer well is apart from the nuclear origin and it is very difficult to access by means of spectroscopy but it will be possible if there exists the tunneling of the electron between the outer well and the Coulomb potential predominated well at the nuclear origin. A one-dimensional quantum calculation with B-spline basis has been performed for hydrogen atom in crossed fields accessible in our laboratory, at B = 0.8 T and F = -220 V.cm(-1). The calculation shows that the wavefunctions of some excited states close to the Stark saddle point in the outer well extend over to the Coulomb potential well, making it possible to penetrate the quantum information of the outer well. However, the tunneling rate is very small and the spectral measurement of the transitions from the ground state should be of a high resolution and high sensitivity.