1. De Broglie conjectured that matter particles, like electrons and protons, exhibit wave-particle duality and have an associated wavelength like photons. He called these matter waves or de Broglie waves.
2. De Broglie's hypothesis was initially accepted but lacked proof until Davisson and Germer conducted experiments in which electrons were diffracted by nickel crystals, directly demonstrating the wave nature of electrons.
3. The Davisson-Germer experiment validated de Broglie's conjecture by showing the wavelength of electrons calculated from diffraction patterns agreed with the wavelength predicted by de Broglie's equation.
1. De Broglie conjectured that matter particles, like electrons and protons, exhibit wave-particle duality and have an associated wavelength like photons. He called these matter waves or de Broglie waves.
2. De Broglie's hypothesis was initially accepted but lacked proof until Davisson and Germer conducted experiments in which electrons were diffracted by nickel crystals, directly demonstrating the wave nature of electrons.
3. The Davisson-Germer experiment validated de Broglie's conjecture by showing the wavelength of electrons calculated from diffraction patterns agreed with the wavelength predicted by de Broglie's equation.
1. De Broglie conjectured that matter particles, like electrons and protons, exhibit wave-particle duality and have an associated wavelength like photons. He called these matter waves or de Broglie waves.
2. De Broglie's hypothesis was initially accepted but lacked proof until Davisson and Germer conducted experiments in which electrons were diffracted by nickel crystals, directly demonstrating the wave nature of electrons.
3. The Davisson-Germer experiment validated de Broglie's conjecture by showing the wavelength of electrons calculated from diffraction patterns agreed with the wavelength predicted by de Broglie's equation.
1. De Broglie conjectured that matter particles, like electrons and protons, exhibit wave-particle duality and have an associated wavelength like photons. He called these matter waves or de Broglie waves.
2. De Broglie's hypothesis was initially accepted but lacked proof until Davisson and Germer conducted experiments in which electrons were diffracted by nickel crystals, directly demonstrating the wave nature of electrons.
3. The Davisson-Germer experiment validated de Broglie's conjecture by showing the wavelength of electrons calculated from diffraction patterns agreed with the wavelength predicted by de Broglie's equation.
1. de Broglie conjectured that the above expression could be true for material particles [like electrons, protons, etc.] as well. The waves associated with matter are called matter waves or de Broglie waves. He proposed this based on the symmetry of Nature, according to which if Nature can be broadly classified as matter and radiation and if radiation exhibits wave-particle duality, then matter too should exhibit it. 2. There was no proof provided by de Broglie except that he stated that Bohr’s postulate can be derived from his hypothesis. In Bohr’s theory, we know,
Circumference of Bohr’s orbit = Integral multiple of wavelength of electron
ℎ ℎ 2 = = =
ℎ = 2
= ℏ
Note that the above equation represents the quantization of angular momentum. Therefore, de Broglie’s conjecture was accepted until it was proved later experimentally by Davisson and Germer.
3. de Broglie’s conjecture would be obvious when the wavelength of the material particle becomes comparable to the size of the obstacle with which it interacts.
Properties of matter waves
1. de Broglie waves represent the wave associated with a particle if the constituents are particles. The wavelength associated with the particles is λ = h/p where h is Plank’s constant, p is the momentum associated with the particle. 2. de Broglie waves represent the waves associated with photons if it is an electromagnetic radiation. The wavelength associated with electromagnetic radiation is λ = hc/E where c is the velocity of light and E is the energy associated with the photon. 3. The square of the amplitude of these matter waves gives us the probability finding the particle at a given position and time. 4. The de Broglie wave group travels with the same velocity as the particle. However, its phase velocity exceeds the velocity of light and it does not have any physical meaning and therefore does not violate special theory of relativity. Davisson-Germer experiment
Electrons accelerated at 54 V were allowed to hit a single crystal of nickel [a single crystal has only one orientation of lattice planes in whole of the crystal]. When the reflected electrons were detected by an electron detector, peaks were observed only at certain definite angles [say at 50, as shown in the figure] and not at all angles. This is similar to diffraction of electromagnetic radiation [x-rays] by crystals, as in Bragg diffraction.
Since the energy of the electron here [at 54 V] is much less than its rest mass energy, we can use non-relativistic calculations here. The de Broglie wavelength of the electron is,
ℎ = = 0.16 √2
From Bragg’s law [for first order diffraction],
2 sin =
Notice that the angle =65 [see the figure for explanation], while the angle between incident and reflected electron is 50. Further, for nickel single crystals, d = 0.9 1 Å. Therefore, = 0.16 nm. Thus, we see the agreement in the wavelength of the electron, found in experiment and predicted by theory, validating the conjecture of de Broglie.
