Final answer:
The experiment to test de Broglie's hypothesis was conducted by Clinton Davisson and Lester Germer in 1927, who through their study on electron diffraction found evidence of the wave-like nature of electrons, thus confirming de Broglie's theory.
Step-by-step explanation:
The experiment to test de Broglie's hypothesis did not actually come from de Broglie himself but from American physicists Clinton Davisson and Lester Germer. Their work in 1927 provided experimental proof of de Broglie's hypothesis that matter, like light, exhibits wave properties. Although Davisson and Germer were not trying to confirm de Broglie's hypothesis directly, their observations during routine experiments on the effects of electron bombardment on metal surfaces led them to notice patterns of diffraction — a wave behavior.
De Broglie hypothesized that electrons could exhibit wave-like behavior, and this was essential to explain the quantized nature of electron orbits in atoms, which were not addressed by the Bohr model of the atom. The diffraction of electrons observed by Davisson and Germer demonstrated the wave-like behavior of electrons, affirming de Broglie's matter-wave hypothesis. De Broglie's postulation became fundamental in quantum mechanics and for his contribution he won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1929. Later, G. P. Thomson also verified these matter waves, leading to collective Nobel recognition in 1937 for the experimental confirmation of de Broglie's work.