Electron Absorption by One Dimensional Complex Potentials

We investigate the electronic absorption induced by a complex potential in one-dimensional quantum mechanics. By solving the Schrodinger equation for spatially localized and extended complex potentials, we derive the electronic absorption coefficient, a. Neither a single nor a double Dirac-delta potential can represent a totally absorbing potential (a = 1) for any choice of the complex amplitude of the potential. Maximum absorption coefficients for these potential types are: 0.5 and 2(2-1) &approx. 0.828, respectively. On the contrary, wall and well potentials do account for total absorption at a particular limit of the potential parameters.