Wave Optics

Contents: (Unit-II; Chapter-I)

• Interference,
• Young’s double slit experiment,
• Newton’s rings,
• Michelson interferometer,
• Diffraction of light,
• Rayleigh’s resolution criteria, Angular Dispersion,
• Dispersive power and resolving power.
Change of Phase Due to Reflection
 Young’s double - slit experiment
• Consider a monochromatic light source ‘S’ kept at
a considerable distance from two slits s1 and s2.

• S is equidistant from s1 and s2.

• s1 and s2 behave as two coherent sources as both

are derived from S.

• The light passes through these slits and falls on a

screen that is at a distance ‘D’ from the position
of slits s1 and s2.
• ‘d’ is the separation between two slits.

• The interference patterns appear only when both

slits s1 and s2 are open.

When the slit separation (d) and the screen distance (D) are kept unchanged, to reach P the light waves from
s1 and s2 must travel different distances.

It implies that there is a path difference in Young’s double slit experiment between the two light waves from
s1 and s2.
Approximation 1: D > > d:
Since D > > d, the two light rays are assumed to be parallel

Approximation 2: d/λ >> 1:

Often, d is a fraction of a millimeter, and λ is a fraction of a
micrometer for visible light.
Under these conditions, θ is small.
Thus, we can use the approximation sin θ = tan θ ≈ θ = λ/d.

Due to this path difference, some points on the screen are

bright, and some points are dark.
Position of Bright Fringes
 The Michelson Interferometer
The Michelson interferometer and its modifications are used in
• the optical industry for testing lenses and prisms,
• Determination of the wavelength
• measuring the index of refraction, and
• examining minute details of surfaces (microtopographies)
• An important experimental device that uses interference is
the Michelson interferometer
• Michelson interferometers are used to make precise
measurements of wavelengths
• Like the Young two-slit experiment, a Michelson
interferometer takes monochromatic light from a single
source and divides it into two waves that follow different
paths.
• In Young’s experiment, this is done by sending part of the
light through one slit and part through another; in a The multi-layered structure reflects 70% of the
Michelson interferometer, a device called a beam splitter is blue light that strikes it, giving the wings a
used. mirrorlike brilliance.
• Interference occurs in both experiments when the two light
waves are recombined.
Working:

A schematic Michelson interferometer. The observer sees an interference pattern that results from the difference in path
lengths for rays 1 and 2.
• A ray of light from a monochromatic source A strikes the beam splitter C, a glass plate with a thin coating of silver on its
right side.
• Part of the light (ray 1) passes through the silvered surface and the compensator plate D and is reflected from mirror M1.
• It then returns through D and is reflected from the silvered surface of C to the observer.

• The remainder of the light (ray 2) is reflected from

the silvered surface at point P to the mirror M2 and
back through C to the observer’s eye.

• The purpose of the compensator plate D is to ensure

that rays 1 and 2 pass through the same thickness of
glass;

• plate D is cut from the same piece of glass as plate

C, so their thicknesses are identical within a fraction
of a wavelength.
• The whole apparatus is mounted on a rigid frame, and the position of mirror M2 can be adjusted with a micrometre screw.
• If the distances L1 =L2; and the mirrors M1 and M2 are precisely at right angles, the virtual image of M1 formed by reflection at
the silvered surface of plate C coincides with mirror M2.

• If L1 ≠ L2 ; the image of M1 is displaced slightly from

M2; and
• if the mirrors are not perpendicular, the image of M1
makes a slight angle with M2.
• Then, the mirror M2 and the virtual image of M1 play
the same roles as the two surfaces of a wedge-shaped
thin film, and light reflected from these surfaces forms
the same sort of interference fringes.
• Suppose the angle between mirror M2 and the virtual
image of M1 is just large enough
and if we move the mirror M2 slowly either backwards or
forward a distance 𝜆/2 , the difference in path length
between rays 1 and 2 changes by 𝜆, and each fringe
moves to the left or right a distance equal to the fringe
spacing.
• If we observe the fringe positions through a telescope
with a crosshair eyepiece and m fringes cross the
crosshairs when we move the mirror a distance y, then
Diffraction of light
• There is no fundamental distinction between interference and diffraction.

• The term interference for effects involving waves from a small number of
sources, usually two.

• Diffraction usually involves a continuous distribution of Huygens’s

wavelets across the area of an aperture, or a very large number of sources or
apertures.

• But both interference and diffraction are consequences of superposition and

Huygens’s principle.
Diffraction
• When plane light waves pass through a small aperture in an opaque barrier, the aperture acts as if it
were a point source of light, with waves entering the shadow region behind the barrier. This
phenomenon, known as diffraction

Light from a small source passes by the edge of an opaque

object and continues on to a screen.
A diffraction pattern consisting of bright and dark fringes
appears on the screen in the region above the edge of the
object.
Single-Slit Diffraction
the resultant intensity at a point P on the screen
by adding the contributions from the individual
wavelets, taking proper account of their various
phases and amplitudes
Fraunhofer diffraction pattern from a single slit
• Consider two narrow strips, one just below the top
edge of the drawing of the slit and one at its centre
asin 𝜃
• The difference in path length to point P is 2 ,
where a is the slit width and 𝜃 is the angle between
the perpendicular to the slit and a line from the centre
of the slit to P.
If this path difference is exactly half a wavelength (corresponding to a phase difference of 180°), the pairs of waves
cancel each other and destructive interference results.

This cancellation occurs for any two rays that originate at points separated by half the slit width because the phase
difference between two such points is 180°

The general condition for destructive interference is

From the diagram,

Rayleigh’s criterion
• When the central maximum of one image falls on
the first minimum of another image, the images are
said to be just resolved. This limiting condition of
resolution is known as Rayleigh’s criterion.
Rayleigh's Angular Resolution Criterion:
Rayleigh's angular resolution criterion specifies the minimum angular separation (θ) between two point sources at which they
can be distinguished as separate entities. It is defined as follows:
θ = 1.22 * (λ / D)
Where:
•θ is the angular separation between the two point sources, in radians.
•λ (lambda) is the wavelength of the light used for observation.
•D is the diameter of the aperture (the opening through which light enters the optical system).

Rayleigh's Linear Resolution Criterion:

Rayleigh's linear resolution criterion specifies the minimum distance (x) between two point sources that can be resolved as
separate entities in the image formed by an optical system. It is defined as follows:
x = 1.22 * (λ / θ)

Where:
•x is the linear separation between the two point sources, typically measured in units like micrometers or millimeters.
•λ (lambda) is the wavelength of the light used for observation.
•θ is the angular separation between the two point sources, in radians.
Angular Dispersion
The angular dispersion of a prism is a measure of how much the
different colors are spread out or separated from each other in angular
space. It is typically quantified using the angular dispersion formula:
Angular Dispersion (Δθ) = δ(λ₂ - λ₁)
Where:
•Δθ is the angular dispersion.
•δ is the deviation angle, which is the angle by which light is bent as it
passes through the prism.
•λ₁ and λ₂ are the wavelengths of light at the two ends of the spectral
range of interest.

Dispersive power
Mathematically, dispersive power is often defined as the angular dispersion produced by
a material or optical element per unit change in wavelength. It is calculated using the
following formula:
Dispersive Power (DP) = (dθ/dλ)
Where:
•DP is the dispersive power.

•dθ is the change in angle of deviation (the angular separation of different colors of
light) produced by the material or optical element.
•dλ is the corresponding change in wavelength.
Problems

1. For a telescope with an aperture diameter of 100 mm and green light (λ = 550 nm), calculate the minimum resolvable angular separation
between two stars.
1. Answer: θ = 1.22 * (λ / D).
2. A diffraction grating produces a first-order maximum for blue light (λ = 480 nm) at an angle of 20 degrees. Calculate the angular
dispersion of the grating.
1. Answer: Angular Dispersion = θ_blue - θ_red.
3. If a prism has a dispersive power of 0.035 radians per nanometer and is used with red light (λ = 650 nm), what is the angular dispersion
produced?
1. Answer: Angular Dispersion = Dispersive Power * Δλ.
4. If an optical instrument has a linear resolution of 0.02 mm and is observing green light (λ = 550 nm), what is its angular resolution?
1. Answer: θ = λ / (2 * Linear Resolution) = 550 nm / (2 * 0.02 mm) = 13.75 radians.

5. What is the angular separation between the second-order maximum and the third-order maximum in Young's double-slit experiment
when the wavelength of light is 550 nm and the slit separation is 0.2 mm?
1. Answer: θ = λ / d = (550 nm) / (0.2 mm) = 0.00275 radians.

6. In Newton's rings experiment, if the radius of a dark ring is 2.5 mm and the wavelength of light used is 600 nm, what is the order (n) of
the ring?
1. Answer: r² = nλR, so n = r² / (λR) = (2.5 mm)² / [(600 nm) * R].

7. What is the radius of the third-order dark ring in a Newton's rings experiment with a wavelength of 600 nm and a diameter of curvature
of 2 meters?
1. Answer: r = sqrt((m * λ * R) / 2) = sqrt((3 * 600 nm * 2 m) / 2) = 0.03 mm.
8. If a Michelson interferometer produces 400 fringes when the wavelength of light is 500 nm, what is the path length difference between
the two arms?
1. Answer: Path Length Difference = (Number of Fringes * Wavelength) / 2 = (400 * 500 nm) / 2 = 100,000 nm = 1,000 µm.