THEORETICAL INVESTIGATION OF THE MECHANISM FOR XE TRANSFER IN THE ATOMIC SWITCH

The mechanism of a reversible Xe transfer in the atomic switch is theo retically investigated. It is demonstrated that Xe transfer is caused by inelastic scattering from the tunneling electrons, leading to vibra tional excitation in one of the potential well and transfer of it to t he deeper well. The transfer rate, essentially determined by the vibra tional excitation, has a power law dependence on the bias, where the p ower equals approximately the number of levels in the potential. The c oupling to the electric field and the elastic scattering by the tunnel ling electrons introduce a potential difference between the double wel l, which affects the direction of Xe transfer.