Electron transmissivity of an interface between media with different electronic properties

A niobium-silicon heterostructure is used to study the transmission of electron waves through an interface between two materials with different electron densities, analogous to the transmission of electromagnetic waves through an interface between two media with different refractive indices. A new approach to match effective mass wave functions is used to demonstrate that the electron transmission of the interface is determined by the ratio of the Fermi wave vectors in the two materials.