Lecture 6.

De Broglie Waves

Outline:

The de Broglie Hypothesis

The Davisson-Germer Experiment
The Electron Interference Experiment

The Need for a New Mechanics

If, in some cataclysm, all of scientific knowledge were to be destroyed, and only one
sentence passed on to the next generation of creatures, what statement would contain the
most information in the fewest words? I believe it is the atomic hypothesis that
All things are made of atoms-little particles that move around in perpetual motion,
attracting each other when they are a little distance apart, but repelling upon being
squeezed into one another.
In that one sentence, you will see, there is an enormous amount of information about the
world, if just a little imagination and thinking are applied.
Oops! Classical physics cannot explain existence of stable atoms!

e2
v2
F 2 m
R
R
e2
K U
2R
The lifetime of
a classical atom:

v 106 m / s

2e 2 a 2 2e 2 v 4
I
3 2
3
3c
3c R

- non-relativistic motion
- power emitted by an
accelerated charge

K U e 2 c 3 R 2 R c

2 4
I
R ev
v v

1010 s !!!

De Broglie Hypothesis
The e.-m. waves can be described using the language of quantum particles
(photons). Can particles behave as waves?
De Broglie (1923) suggested that a
plane monochromatic wave is associated
with a freely moving particle:

x 0 ei t kx

This is a solution of the wave equation in one dimension:

2
2
2
v
2
t
x 2

This wave (its phase) travels with the phase velocity

Well apply the same logic which helped us to establish the
relationship between p and for photons:

rr
t kr

The phase
is a Lorentz-invariant quantity,
the (scalar) product of two 4-vectors:

Particle properties

Wave properties

r
i ,k
c

E r
i ,p
c
Thus, well require

E h

and

r
r
p hk

v
k

ict , r
r
i , k
c

rr
t kr

- both the time-like and space-like

components of these 4-vectors should
transform under L

2 h

k
p

- de Broglie wavelength
p - the objects momentum

De Broglie Wavelength

2 h

k
p

- depends on the momentum rather then energy (e.g., for an object

at rest, = )
Compare with Compton
wavelength of the particle

h
mc

- formally speaking, C. wavelength can be

considered as the dB wavelength that corresponds
to the momentum equal to the length of 4-vector
(iE/c,p)

Examples
1. What is the de Broglie wavelength of the charge carriers in a typical metal? The kinetic
energy of charge carriers (conduction electrons) in metals is of an order of a few eV (~5 eV
for Au); its called the Fermi energy, EF .
Non-relativistic case:

h
h
hc

p
2 Kme
2 Kme c 2

1240 eV nm
5

2 5eV 5 10 eV

hc 1240 eV nm

0.55 nm

Even for this relatively small K, the de Broglie wavelength of an electron is tiny thus, the
difficulty of constructing a pair of slits for an electron interference experiment.
For non-relativistic electrons accelerated
through the potential difference V:

h
1.23nm

2me eV
V V

2. A buckeyball (fullerene) is a large molecule comprised of

60 carbon atoms (C60) arranged in a shape somewhat like a
hollow sphere 0.71 nm in diameter. Imagine that we create a
beam of buckeyballs all moving at the same speed v. What is
the maximum value that v can have if the de Broglie
wavelength of the buckeyball beam is to be at least 2 times
the size of the buckeyball?

Example
What would be the kinetic energy of each electron in a beam of electrons having a
de Broglie wavelength of 633 nm (the wavelength of light emitted by the common
helium-neon laser)?

p
1
h

2me 2me 2 633 109

6.6 10
m 9.110

34

31

J s

kg 1.6 10 19 eV / J

3.7 10 6 eV

This is the kinetic energy of an electron accelerated from rest through a potential difference
of 3.7 microVolts. For comparison, at room temperature the kinetic energy of a free electron
is

1.5 1.4 1023 J / K 300 K

3
K k BT
0.04eV
19
2
1.6 10 eV / J

Phase and Group Velocities

This phase velocity

E mc 2 c 2
vp

c
k p mv
v

- no limitations on the phase velocity,

(phase of a plane wave does not
carry any information)

The observable is the group velocity (the velocity of

propagation of a wave packet or wave group. Lets
consider the superposition of two harmonic waves with
slightly different frequencies (>>, k>>k):

y1 A cos t kx
y2 A cos t k k x

2
" "
k

1
1
cos

2

cos cos 2 cos

2
k

k
x
cos

k
x

k

The velocity of propagation of
2 A cos t kx cos
t
x
2
2
the wave packet:
d
fast oscillations
v

envelope=
-the group velocity
g
within the wave
dk
wave group

y y1 y2 2 A cos

group

Group Gelombang

Group Velocity of de Broglie waves

vg

d dE

dk dp

dE 1

dp 2

2 pc 2

pc

mc

2 2

pc

mc

2 2

vg v

pc 2 mv c 2

v
E
mc 2

- the group velocity of de

Broglie waves coincide with
the particles velocity

vg v p c 2

Periodic processes: discrete spectrum (Fourier series).

Aperiodic processes: continuous spectrum (represented as Fourier integral)
f(t)
t
-1

1, 0

sinc sin
, 0

Interference at Low Intensities

Two-dimensional array of small
particle/photon (quanton) detectors
Strictly-wave model: smooth
oscillating variations of intensity
(the number of particles).
Strictly-particle model: discrete
events but no oscillations of
intensity.
Implications:
behavior of individual quantons is not deterministic (newtonian)
each individual quanton knows about both slits
any attempt to conduct which-way experiment kills the interference
neither the particle nor wave models are adequate
The wave model describes correctly the statistical distribution of quanton arrivals, the
particle model describes the interaction of each individual quanton with a detector
(collapse of the wavefunction in the process of measurement).
Statistical Interpretation of de Broglie Waves (Max Born): de Broglie wave = the wave of
probability, the intensity of dB wave at a given location is proportional to the probability to
detect the particle at this location - to be discussed later.
The statistical properties can be studied only if one can repeat the same experiment with
identical particles many times (or observe many identical particles in identical conditions at
the same time).

Earlier (incorrect) Interpretation of de Broglie Waves

Earlier ideas (Schrdinger): particle = the wave group. In favor: the group velocity of de
Broglie waves coincide with the particles velocity. However, the wave packet wouldnt live
for a long time because of the dispersion of de Broglie waves in vacuum:
In general
for light in vacuum
2

k v p k k
c k

2
E
2

mc


c

- no dispersion (cc(k))

h ck mc 2

2 ck

Deformation of a 1D wave group, m=me

(1 Bohr=0.053nm, time units 3/mee4=2.410-17s)

E
vp k
k p

pc

mc
p

2 2

mc 2

mc
mc
c 1

c
1

p
hk

Thus, a particle IS NOT the group of de Broglie waves!

State-of-the-art: detection of single THz photons

Detection of the visible-range photons: not a big
deal, the photon energy is sufficient to generate
photoelectrons (the photoelectric effect)

E ph 1 3 eV
- comparable with the energy
gap between the valence and
conduction bands in typical
semiconductors

photomultiplier

This task becomes more challenging at lower photon energies...

SAFIR

cold (4K) antenna to

reduce photon noise

6.6 10
E

34

nanostructures at ultralow T to increase

sensitivity

J s 1 1012 Hz

1.6 10

19

eV / J

0.004eV

The energy resolution sufficiently

high for detecting single 0.1-THz
photons @ 0.1K and 1-THz
photons @ 0.3K.

Particle-Wave Dualism
Conclusion: all forms of matter (both particles and fields) exhibit wavelike aspects.
De Broglies equations

E h

2 h

k
p

equally apply to particles and photons

The wave-like character of an object becomes more apparent at low kinetic energies as its
de Broglie wavelength increases: it is much easier to observe interference with visible light
than with electrons.
Roughly speaking:

characteristic dimensions of the exp. set-up - particle behavior dominates

characteristic dimensions of the exp. set-up

- wave behavior dominates

Difficulty of interference experiments with particles: it is not easy to prepare

monochromatic beams of slow particles with a sufficiently large de Broglie wavelength.
Difficulty of observation of the particle-like nature of e.-m. waves: the energy carried by a
single photon becomes too small for its detection.