From measuring electron charge to exploring particle-wave duality: A new didactic experimental approach

E. Salançon (1) , Alain Degiovanni (1) , Laurent Lapena (1) , Roger Morin (1)

1 CINaM - Centre Interdisciplinaire de Nanoscience de Marseille

This paper points out the strong didactic potential of an experiment originally intended for electron source research. Using a dual stage micro-channel plate in a low-energy electron point projection microscope, electrons are spatially detected one by one. Field electron emission affords wide-ranging intensity enabling the electron charge to be determined by comparing counting and analog measurements. The same setup is used to illustrate buildup of an interference pattern from separate low-energy electron detection, thereby enabling the Planck constant to be determined. Both granular and continuous signals are directly observable in this educational approach.

Domains: Physics [physics]; Physics [physics]; Quantum Physics [quant-ph]

E. Salançon, Alain Degiovanni, Laurent Lapena, Roger Morin. From measuring electron charge to exploring particle-wave duality: A new didactic experimental approach. American Journal of Physics, 2019, 87 (3), pp.194-199. ⟨10.1119/1.5086392⟩. ⟨hal-02043197⟩