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Thomson Experiment Electron Diffraction
Thomson Experiment Electron Diffraction
Introduction
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Vol.25, No.9, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12045-020-1045-4
Figure 1. A schematic of
Thomson’s experiment.
Experimental Details
nλ = 2d sin φ , (1)
φ = nλ/2d . (2)
Since all the quantities on the right-hand side are constant, for a
√
set of atomic planes, i.e., for constant d, the product D V must
be a constant if de Broglie waves exist for electrons.
In the experiment, electrons were accelerated through various po-
tentials and the diameter of the ring in the diffraction pattern was
measured for aluminum and gold thin films. For both films, the
√
product D V was found to be constant, which confirmed the de
Broglie hypothesis.
Suggested Reading
[1] K Krane, Modern Physics, John Wiley & sons Pvt. Ltd., Singapore, pp.70–75,
1996.
[2] G P Thomson, Experiments on the Diffraction of Cathode Rays, Proceedings of
Royal Society of London. Series A, Vol.117, pp.600–609, 1928.