Abstract
The 1914 experiment of James Franck and Gustav Hertz provided a graphic demonstration of quantization properties of atoms, thereby laying the foundations of modern atomic physics. This article revisits the experiment on the occasion of its Centenary, compares traditional and modern interpretations, and focuses in particular on the link between microscopic processes, which are governed by the laws of quantum mechanics, and macroscopic phenomena as measured in the laboratory. A goal is to place the physics underlying the operation of the Franck-Hertz experiment within the context of contemporary gaseous electronics, and to that end we reach back even further in time to the 1872 kinetic equation of Ludwig Boltzmann. We also show how the experiment can be modelled using fluid equations and Monte Carlo simulation, and go further to show how non-local effects, resonances and striations in plasmas have much in common with the electron physics in the drift region of the Franck-Hertz experiment.
References
L.G.H. Huxley, R.W. Crompton, The Diffusion and Drift of Electrons in Gases (Wiley, New York, 1974)
S.C. Brown, in Gaseous Electronics, edited by M.N. Hirsh, H.J. Oskam (Academic Press, New York, 1978), pp. 1–18
A. Müller, Nature 157, 119 (1946)
J. Franck, G. Hertz, Verh. Deutsche Phys. Ges. 16, 457 (1914)
R.E. Robson, M. Hildebrandt, R.D. White, Phys. J. 13, 43 (2014)
G. Holst, E. Oosterhuis, Physica 1, 78 (1921)
M.J. Druyvesteyn, Z. Phys. 73, 33 (1932)
M.J. Druyvesteyn, F.M. Penning, Rev. Mod. Phys. 12, 87 (1940)
J.G.A. Hölscher, Physica 35, 129 (1967)
M. Hayashi, J. Phys. D 15, 1411 (1982)
J. Fletcher, J. Phys. D 18, 221 (1985)
J. Fletcher, P.H. Purdie, Aust. J. Phys. 40, 383 (1987)
R.W. Crompton, Adv. Atom. Mol. Opt. Phys. 33, 97 (1994)
B. Schmidt, K. Berkhan, B. Götz, M. Müller, Phys. Scr. T53, 30 (1994)
Z.Lj. Petrović, M. Šuvakov, Ž. Nikitović, S. Dujko, O. Šašić, J. Javanović, G. Malović, V. Stojanović, Plasma Sources Sci. Technol. 16, S1 (2007)
Z.Lj. Petrović, S. Dujko, D. Marić, G. Malović, Ž. Nikitović, O. Šašić, J. Jovanović, V. Stojanović, M. Radmilović-Radenović, J. Phys. D 42, 194002 (2009)
M. Abria, Annal. Chim. Phys. 7, 462 (1843)
W.R. Grove, Philos. Trans. R. Soc. London 142, 87 (1852)
G.D. Morgan, Nature 172, 542 (1953)
T. Rùšièka, K. Rohlena, Czech. J. Phys. B 22, 906 (1972)
K. Rohlena, T. Rùšièka, L. Pekárek, Czech. J. Phys. B 22, 920 (1972)
L. Pekárek, Sov. Phys. Uspekhi 11, 188 (1968)
V.I. Kolobov, V.A. Godyak, IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci. 23, 503 (1995)
Yu.B. Golubovskii, A.Yu. Skoblo, A. Wilke, R.V. Kozakov, J. Behnke, V.O. Nekutchaev, Phys. Rev. E 72, 026414 (2005)
V.I. Kolobov, J. Phys. D 39, R487 (2006)
C. Gerthsen, H. Kneser, H. Vogel, Physik (Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg, 1982)
D. Halliday, R. Resnick, J. Walker, Fundamentals of Physics (John Wiley & Sons, 2000)
P. Nicoletopoulos, http://users.skynet.be/P.Nicoletopoulos
J.P. England, M.T. Elford, Aust. J. Phys. 44, 647 (1991)
R.E. Robson, B. Li, R.D. White, J. Phys. B 33, 507 (2000)
J. Lemmerich, Aufrecht im Sturm der Zeit: Der Physiker James Franck (GNT, Diepholz, 2007)
F. von Hippel, Phys. Today 63, 41 (2010)
J. Kuczera, Gustav Hertz (Teubner Verlagsgesellschaft, Leipzig, 1985)
James Franck-Gustav Hertz, Die Elektronenstreuversuche, edited by A. Hermann (Ernst Battenberg Verlag, München, 1967)
A.C. Melissinos, in Experiments in Modern Physics (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1966), pp. 8–17
P. Nicoletopoulos, Eur. J. Phys. 23, 533 (2002)
J. Franck, G. Hertz, in Nobel Lectures, Physics (Elsevier Publishing Company, 1965), pp. 1922–1946
M.J. de Vries, 80 Years of Research at the Philips Natuurkundig Laboratorium 1914–1994 (Pallas Publications, Amsterdam, 2005)
Ludwig Boltzmann (1844-1909), edited by I.M. Fasol-Boltzmann, G.L. Fasol (Springer, Wien, New York, 2006)
L. Boltzmann, Wiener Berichte 66, 275 (1872)
The Boltzmann equation and applications, edited by E.D.G. Cohen, W. Thiring (Springer-Verlag, Wien, 1973)
L.M. Chanin, G.D. Rork, Phys. Rev. 132, 2547 (1963)
L.M. Chanin, G.D. Rork, Phys. Rev. A 133, 1005 (1964)
Y. Sakai, H. Tagashira, S. Sakamoto, J. Phys. B5, 1010 (1972)
H. Sugawara, Y. Sakai, H. Tgashira, J. Phys. D 25, 1483 (1992)
D. Loffhagen, F. Sigeneger, Plasma Sources Sci. Technol. 18, 034006 (2009)
R. Winkler, F. Sigeneger, D. Uhrland, Pure Appl. Chem. 68, 1065 (1996)
R. Winkler, G. Petrov, F. Sigeneger, D. Uhrlandt, Plasma Sources Sci. Technol. 6, 118 (1997)
F. Sigeneger, R. Winkler, Plasma Chem. Plasma Process. 17, 1 (1997)
G. Petrov, R. Winkler, J. Phys. D 30, 53 (1997)
E. Marode, J.P. Boeuf, in International Conference on Phenomena in Ionized Gase IGPIG 1983, Düsseldorf, Germany, 1983, p. 206
L.D. Tsendin, Plasma Sources Sci. Technol. 4, 200 (1995)
U. Kortshagen, C. Busch, L.D. Tsendin, Plasma Sources Sci. Technol. 5, 1 (1996)
R.E. Robson, in Gaseous Electronics and its Applications, edited by R.W. Crompton et al. (Kluwer, Dordrecht, 1997), pp. 89–101
H. Date, K. Kondo, S. Yachi, H. Tagashira, J. Phys. D 25, 1330 (1992)
B. Li, Ph.D. thesis, James Cook University, 1999
J. Franck, G. Hertz, Phys. Z. 20, 132 (1919)
N. Bohr, Phil. Mag. 30, 394 (1915)
G.F. Hanne, Am. J. Phys. 56, 696 (1988)
R.D. White, R.E. Robson, P. Nicoletopoulos, S. Dujko, Eur. Phys. J. D 66, 117 (2012)
P. Magyar, I. Korolov, Z. Donko, Phys. Rev. E 85, 056409 (2012)
M. Hayashi, NIFS-DATA-72 (2003), www.nifs.ac.jp/report/nifs-data072.html
G. Rapior, K. Sengstock, V. Baev, Am. J. Phys. 74, 423 (2006)
E.A. Mason, E.W. McDaniel, Transport Properties of Ions in Gases (Wiley, New York, 1988)
R.E. Robson, Introductory Transport Theory for Charged Particles in Gases (World Scientific, Singapore, 2006)
K. Kumar, H.R. Skullerud, R.E. Robson, Aust. J. Phys. 33, 343 (1980)
P. Nicoletopoulos, R.E. Robson, Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 124502 (2008)
R.E. Robson, J. Chem. Phys. 85, 4486 (1986)
F. Sigeneger, R. Winkler, R.E. Robson, Contr. Plasma Phys. 43, 178 (2003)
C.S. Wang-Chang, G.E. Uhlenbeck, J. de Boer, in Studies in Statistical Mechanics (Wiley, New York, 1964), Vol. II, p. 241
R.E. Marshak, Phys. Rev. 71, 443 (1947)
B. Li, R.D. White, R.E. Robson, J. Phys. D 35, 2914 (2002)
P. Segur, A. Alkaa, S. Pineau, A. Zahraoui, B. Chouki, C. Moutarde, S. Laffont, Plasma Sources Sci. Technol. 4, 183 (1995)
T. Kunst, B. Gétz, B. Schmidt, Nucl. Instrum. Meth. A 324, 127 (1993)
B. Li, R.E. Robson, R.D. White, Phys. Rev. E 74, 026405 (2006)
S. Dujko, R.D. White, R.E. Robson, Z.Lj. Petrović, Plasma Sources Sci. Technol. 20, 024013 (2011)
J. Lucas, H. Saelee, J. Phys. D 8, 640 (1975)
S. Dujko, R.D. White, Z.Lj. Petrović, J. Phys. D 41, 24205 (2008)
R.E. Robson, R.D. White, Z.Lj. Petrović, Rev. Mod. Phys. 77, 1303 (2005)
P. Nicoletopoulos, R.E. Robson, R.D. White, J. Chem. Phys. 137, 214112 (2012)
M. Surendra, M. Dalvie, Phys. Rev. E 48, 3914 (1993)
F. Sigeneger, R. Winkler, IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci. 27, 1254 (1999)
P. Nicoletopoulos, R.E. Robson, R.D. White, Phys. Rev. E 85, 046404 (2012)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Robson, R.E., White, R.D. & Hildebrandt, M. One hundred years of the Franck-Hertz experiment. Eur. Phys. J. D 68, 188 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2014-50342-9
Received:
Revised:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2014-50342-9