ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the concept of quantum wells from one to three dimensions to see how particles behave in a three-dimensional quantum world. It considers the properties of particles confined in two- and three-dimensional potential structures called quantum wires and quantum dots. Determining energies and corresponding wave functions require some careful analysis but are worth the trouble. A quantum wire is sometimes referred to as a one-dimensional system. The energy of the particle in a quantum dot is quantized in all three directions. Because the motion of the particle is now restricted in every direction, the particle has zero dimension of freedom. Quantum dots are also regarded as artificial atoms. One can notice that the results obtained for the three-dimensional case are similar to that obtained for the one-dimensional case. In the three-dimensional case, the wave function and the energy are specified by the trio of integers. The energy level is degenerate, and the number of degenerate states, degeneracy.
