Davisson–Germer experiment

Quantum mechanics

Introduction to... Mathematical formulation of...

Fundamental concepts Quantum state · Superposition Interference · Entanglement Measurement · Uncertainty Exclusion · Duality Decoherence

Experiments Double-slit experiment Davisson-Germer experiment Stern–Gerlach experiment Bell's inequality experiment Popper's experiment Schrödinger's cat

Equations Schrödinger equation Pauli equation Klein-Gordon equation Dirac equation

Advanced theories Quantum field theory Wightman axioms Quantum electrodynamics Quantum chromodynamics Quantum gravity Feynman diagram

Interpretations Copenhagen · Ensemble Hidden variables · Transactional Many-worlds · Consistent histories Quantum logic Consciousness causes collapse

Scientists Planck · Schrödinger Heisenberg · Bohr · Pauli Dirac · Bohm · Born de Broglie · von Neumann Einstein · Feynman Everett · Penrose · Others

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In physics, the Davisson–Germer experiment provided a critically important confirmation of the de Broglie hypothesis that particles, such as electrons, could behave as waves. More generally, it helped cement the acceptance of quantum mechanics and of Schrödinger's wave equation.

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In 1927 at Bell Labs, Clinton Davisson and Lester Germer fired slow moving electrons at a crystalline nickel target. The angular dependence of the reflected electron intensity was measured, and was determined to have the same diffraction pattern as those predicted by Bragg for X-rays.

This experiment, like Arthur Compton's experiment which gave support to the particle-like nature of light, lent support to de Broglie's hypothesis on the wave-like nature of matter and completed the wave-particle duality hypothesis, which was a fundamental step in quantum theory.