Davisson–Germer experiment
The Davisson–Germer experiment was a 1923-27 experiment by Clinton Davisson and Lester Germer at Western Electric, in which electrons, scattered by the surface of a crystal of nickel metal, displayed a diffraction pattern. This confirmed the hypothesis, advanced by Louis de Broglie in 1924, of wave-particle duality, and also the wave mechanics approach of the Schrödinger equation. It was an experimental milestone in the creation of quantum mechanics.
Davisson and Germer in 1927
American Physical Society plaque in Manhattan commemorates the experiment
Graph of the electrical current vs electron beam azimuth angle from the 1927 "The Scattering of Electrons by a Single Crystal of Nickel" paper. The presence of peaks and troughs is consistent with a diffraction pattern and suggests a wave-like nature of electrons.
Clinton Joseph Davisson was an American physicist who won the 1937 Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery of electron diffraction in the famous Davisson–Germer experiment. Davisson shared the Nobel Prize with George Paget Thomson, who independently discovered electron diffraction at about the same time as Davisson.
Clinton Davisson
Davisson (left) with Lester Germer (right) 1927
