Utilizing a van der Waals complex, Ar-Kr+, and an ingenious method for tracking tunneling dynamics, the research highlights the essential influence of surrounding atoms in quantum tunneling. Credit: Ming Zhu, Jihong Tong, Xiwang Liu, Weifeng Yang, Xiaochun Gong, Wenyu Jiang, Peifen Lu, Hui Li, Xiaohong Song & & Jian WuThe real-time imaging of electron tunneling dynamics in complex has essential clinical significance for promoting the advancement of tunneling transistors and ultrafast optoelectronic devices. The site-assisted electron-hole in Ar-Kr+ guarantees that the second electron is generally eliminated from the Ar atom in the 2nd ionization step, where the electron might straightly tunnel to the continuum from the Ar atom or alternatively via the neighboring Kr+ ionic core.In combination with the enhanced Coulomb-corrected strong-field approximation (ICCSFA) method established by the team, which is able to take into account the Coulomb interaction under the potential during tunneling, and by keeping track of the photoelectron transverse momentum distribution to track the tunneling characteristics, then, it was found that there are two impacts of strong capture and weak capture of tunneling electrons by a surrounding atom.This work effectively reveals the important role of surrounding atoms in electron tunneling in sub-nanometer complex systems.