This program enables the user to understand the origin of energy bands in a solid. The user begins with a single atom represented by a rectangular potential energy diagram. The program allows the user the change the width and depth of the potential well, and displays the allowed energy values.
Next the user can create identical multiple wells and observe how the discrete energy values split into multiple values as the number of wells is increased. When the number of wells is large, the individual energy levels merge to form energy bands. The user can also change the inter atomic separation and observe the how the energy bands become wider when the atoms are brought closer indicating an increased interaction between electrons and hence a greater splitting of energy levels.
The user can also investigate the changes in the energy bands if one or more atoms in the solid were replaced with an impurity which was characterized by either a slightly deeper well or a slightly shallower well. The user can change the number of impurities and observe the impurity state levels and energy bands appear as a result of addition of impurities.