What actually is a potential barrier in quantum mechanics?

Question

I'm new to quantum mechanics, and I was wondering what actually is a potential barrier in quantum mechanics?
I understand that it is similar in a way to a hill in classical mechanics except that we get a decreasing exponential for too high energy for the probability density instead of a 0 and so on, but experimentally how to make a setup, for example, for the electron to go though a potential barrier?

user285101 · Accepted Answer

An easy example of a quantum mechanical potential barrier in an experimental setup is a scanning tunneling microscope. A voltage is applied between a solid crystal you want to scan and a tip. The space between tip and solid can be interpreted as a potential barrier, as removing an electron from the tip and placing it in this intermediate space would require energy, just like rolling a ball up a hill requires energy.

Correct answer by user285101 on June 7, 2021

What actually is a potential barrier in quantum mechanics?

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