The DavissonGermer experiment was a physics experiment conducted by American physicists Clinton Davisson and Lester Germer in 1927

!1" which con#irmed the de $ro%lie hypothesis& This hypothesis advanced by Louise de bro%lie at particles o# matter such as electrons have wave li'e properties& The experiment not only played a ma(or role in veri#yin% the de $ro%lie hypothesis and demonstrated the wave)particle duality but also was an important historical development in the establishment o# *uantum mechanics and o# the +chr,din%er e*uation&

-xperiment
-xperimental setup

Davisson and Germer.s actual ob(ective was to study the sur#ace o# a piece o# nic'el by directin% a beam o# electrons at the sur#ace and observin% how many electrons bounced o## at various an%les& They expected that #or electrons even the smoothest crystal sur#ace would be too rou%h and so the electron beam would experience di##use re#lection&!/" The experiment consisted o# #irin% an electron beam #rom an electron %un directed to a piece o# nic'el crystal at normal incidence 0i&e& perpendicular to the sur#ace o# the crystal1& The experiment included an electron %un consistin% o# a heated #ilament that released thermally excited electrons which were then accelerated throu%h a potential di##erence %ivin% them a certain amount o# 'inetic ener%y towards the nic'el crystal& To avoid collisions o# the electrons with other molecules on their way towards the sur#ace the experiment was conducted in a vacuum chamber& To measure the number o# electrons that were scattered at di##erent an%les an electron detector that could be moved on an arc path about the crystal was used& The detector was desi%ned to accept only elastically scattered electrons& Durin% the experiment an accident occurred and air entered the chamber producin% an oxide #ilm on the nic'el sur#ace& To remove the oxide Davisson and Germer heated the specimen in a hi%h temperature oven not 'nowin% that this a##ected the #ormerly polycrystalline structure o# the nic'el to #orm lar%e sin%le crystal areas with crystal planes continuous over the width o# the electron beam&!/" 2hen they started the experiment a%ain and the electrons hit the sur#ace they were scattered by atoms which ori%inated #rom crystal planes inside the nic'el crystal& As 3ax von Laue proved in 1912 the crystal structure serves as a type o# three dimensional di##raction %ratin%& The an%les o# maximum re#lection are %iven by $ra%%.s condition #or constructive inter#erence #rom an array $ra%%.s law

#or n 4 1 4 567 and #or the spacin% o# the crystalline planes o# nic'el 0d 4 6&691 nm1 obtained #rom previous 8)ray scatterin%experiments on crystalline nic'el&!2" $y varyin% the applied volta%e to the electron %un the maximum intensity o# electrons di##racted by the atomic sur#ace was #ound at di##erent an%les& The hi%hest intensity was observed at an an%le 9 4 567 with a volta%e o# 5: ; %ivin% the electrons a 'inetic ener%y o#5: e;&!2" Accordin% to the de $ro%lie relation and $ra%%.s law a beam o# 5: e; had a wavelen%th

o# 6&1/5 nm& The experimental outcome was6&1/7 nm which closely matched the predictions& Davisson and Germer.s accidental discovery o# the di##raction o# electrons was the #irst direct evidence con#irmin% de $ro%lie.s hypothesis that particles can have wave properties as well&

DAVISSON_GERMER Experiment
The Davisson<Germer experiment 019271 was the #irst measurement o# the wavelen%ths o# = electrons& C& >& Davisson who wor'ed in the $ell ?esearch Laboratories received the @obel AriBe in Ahysics #or the year 19C7 to%ether with Geor%e A& Thomson #rom the Dniversity o# Aberdeen in +cotland who independently also #ound experimental indications o# electron di##raction& Accordin% to the Copenha%en Enterpretation o# Fuantum 3echanics = wave)particle duality leads to particles also exhibitin% wave)li'e properties li'e extension in space and inter#erence& Clinton >& Davisson 01GG1H195G1 and Lester I& Germer 01G9/H19711 investi%ated the re#lection o# electron beams on the sur#ace o# nic'el crystals& 2hen the beam stri'es the crystal the nic'el atoms in the crystal scatter the electrons in all directions& Their detector measured the intensity o# the scattered electrons with respect to the incident electron beam& Their normal polycrystalline samples exhibited a very smooth an%ular distribution o# scattered electrons& En early 1925 one o# their samples was inadvertently recrystalliBed in a laboratory accident that chan%ed its structure into nearly monocrystalline #orm& As a result the an%ular distribution mani#ested sharp pea's at certain an%les& As Davisson and Germer soon #ound out other monocrystalline samples also exhibited such anomalous patterns which di##er with chemical constitution an%le o# incidence and orientation o# the sample& Jnly in late 192/ did they understand what was %oin% on when Davisson attended the meetin% o# the $ritish Association #or the Advancement o# +cience in Jx#ord& There $orn spo'e about de $ro%lie.s = matter)waves and +chrodin%er.s = wave mechanics& Their later measurements completely con#irmed the *uantum mechanical predictions #or electron wavelen%th K as a #unction o# momentum pL K 4 hMp& $ut their initial experiments 0unli'e G&A Thomson.s1 were conducted in the context o# industrial materials research on #ilaments #or vacuum tubes not under any speci#ic theoretical %uidance&