Open AccessThe diffraction of electrons in mercury vapour
Author(s) -
F. L. Arnot
Publication year - 1931
Publication title -
proceedings of the royal society of london. series a, containing papers of a mathematical and physical character
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2053-9150
pISSN - 0950-1207
DOI - 10.1098/rspa.1931.0031
Subject(s) - diffraction , electron , monatomic ion , electron diffraction , scattering , atomic physics , gas electron diffraction , incoherent scatter , monatomic gas , physics , reflection high energy electron diffraction , molecular physics , materials science , optics , quantum mechanics
Diffraction phenomena as exhibited in the experiments of Davisson and Germer, G. P. Thomson, Rupp, Kikuchi, and others have demonstrated in a very beautiful manner the wave nature of electrons. In these experiments the interference patterns found are due to a regular crystalline or molecular structure having a lattice spacing somewhat greater than the wave-length of the electrons employed. In experiments on the scattering of slow electrons in monatomic gases we might expect to obtain an electrical analogue of the optical case when light passes through a cloud of minute water drops producing diffraction halos such as those seen around the sun or the moon, for the classical diameter of the scattering atoms will be only slightly greater than the wave-length of the electrons.