Diffraction

The bending of light around the

corners of an obstacle or the
encroachment of light into the
region of geometrical shadow.

The amount bending depends

on the relative size of the
wavelength of light to the size
of the opening.
1
 If the slit width is much larger than the wavelength, the
bending will be almost unnoticeable.
A narrower slit will give a wider diffraction pattern as
illustrated below, which seems somewhat counter-
intuitive.

2
If light from symmetric
elements near each edge of
the slit travels to the
centerline of the slit, as
indicated by rays 1 and 2
above, their light arrives in
phase and experiences
constructive interference.

The first minimum in intensity for the light through a single slit
can be visualized in terms of rays 3 and 4. An element at one edge
of the slit and one just past the centerline are chosen, and the
condition for minimum light intensity is that light from these two
elements arrive 180° out of phase, or a half wavelength different
in path length. Those two elements suffer destructive interference,
then choosing additional pairs of identical spacing which progress
downward across the slit will give destructive interference for all
those pairs and therefore an overall minimum in light intensity. 3
 Fresnel diffraction(The source and
screen are at finite distance from
the obstacle)
Diffraction

Fraunhofer diffraction(The source

and screen are effective at infinite
distance from the obstacle)

(a) Fresnel (a) Fraunhofer

diffraction diffraction 4
 Difference between Interference and diffraction

Interference Diffraction
1. It is the result of superposition of 1. It is the result of superposition of
secondary waves starting from two secondary waves starting from
different wavefronts originating different parts of the same
from two coherent sources wavefronts.
2. All bright and dark fringes are of
equal width 2. The width of central bright fringe is
twice the width of any secondary
3. All bright fringes are of same maxima.
intensity. 3. Intensity of bright fringes decreases
as we move away from central
fringe on either side.
4. Regions of dark fringes are perfectly 4. Regions of dark fringes are not
dark. perfectly dark.
5. At an angle λ/d, we get a bright 5. At an angle λ/d, we get the first dark
fringe in the interference pattern of fringe in the diffraction pattern of a
two narrow slits separated by a single slit of width d.
distance d. 5
 Fraunhofer diffraction at a single slit

The diffracted through an angle θ are focused at P

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7
Width of central maxima

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The distance of the first minima from the centre of the
principle maxima be y

Width of central maxima=2y

The distance between the slit and the screen is D.

For D>>a
θ΄= θ

tan θ=sin θ=y/D……………(1)

Condition for minima,

asin θ=nλ and
y/D=nλ /a

Therefore y=nλ D/a………………………………….(2) 9

 For the first minima
sin  =   / a
 y
 =
a D
D
y = 
a

If the focal length, f of lens is very close to the slit,

then D=f

f
y=
a
Therefore width of central maxima

y − (− y ) = 2 y
2f
=
a
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Effect of central width

11
 Fraunhofer’s diffraction at a double slit

AB and CD are two rectangular slits

a= slit’s width in both cases.
b= separation between two slits.
λ= wavelength of monochromatic light
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Hence, the optical path difference for the points A
and C is given by
CE = AC sinθ
=(a+b) sinθ

Then the corresponding phase difference

2
2 = CE

2
or , = ( a + b) sin  ..........................(1)

Let 2α be phase change between the extreme
rays from the first slit, then we have

2
2 = a sin 


or ,  = a sin  ................( 2)
 13
The resultant amplitude y1 due to the extreme rays from
the first slit is given by
y1 = A sin t...................................................(3)
sin 
Here, A = A0


Where A0 is resultant amplitude of the direct rays, and A is the

resultant amplitude of the diffracted rays from the first slit.

Similarly the resultant amplitude due to the second slit is

y 2 = A sin(t + 2  ).......................( 4)

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Therefore the resultant displacement Y due to the extreme
rays from the double slit at an θ as per superposition
principle is given by

Y = y1 + y 2
Y = A sin t + A sin(t + 2  )
Y = 2 A cos  sin(t +  )....................(5)

The resultant amplitude is

R = 2 A cos  ......................(6)

Putting the value of A in this equation we get

sin 
R = 2 A0 cos  ......................(6)

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The intensity at point P’ is

 sin 2  
I = R2 = 4I 0 
 2 
 cos 2
 ......................(7)
 

The intensity of the central maxima = 4I0 when α=0 and β=0
First term represent the diffraction pattern due to single slit
and the second term represent the interference pattern
produced by two point source.

It will be minima or zero, when

α= π,2 π, 3π… and β= π/2, 3 π/2,…..

It will be maxima, when

β = 0,π,2 π, 3π… neglecting the first term

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Missing orders in a double diffraction pattern

In the diffraction pattern due to a double slit,

the slit width is a
Slit separation is b

If a and b are constant the diffraction pattern remains same.

But keeping constant a, if we change the value of b, the
spacing between interference maxima changes. Depending on
the relative value of a and b, certain orders of interference
maxima will be missing in the resultant pattern.

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 CE=(a+b) sinθ=nλ

The direction of diffraction minima

asin θ =mλ m=1,2,3…….
The direction of interference maxima
dsinθ=n λ (d=a+b) n=0,1,2,…

𝑑 𝑛
= 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑛, 𝑚 𝑏𝑜𝑡ℎ 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑠
𝑎 𝑚
If the values of a and b are such that the equations are
satisfied simultaneously for the same value of θ, then the
positions of certain interference maxima correspond to the
diffraction minima at the same position on the screen and
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consequently will be missing.
 (i) If a=b then
𝑛 𝑑
= = 2, n=2m
𝑚 𝑎

If m=1,2,3…. Then n=2,4,6 etc

Giving the integer value of m, we get the missing order n.
Thus the order 2,4,6, etc. of the interference maxima will be
missing in the diffraction pattern. There will be three interference
maxima in the central diffraction maximum.

(ii) If 2a=b then

𝑛
=3 n=3m
𝑚
If m=1,2,3…. Then n=3,6,9 etc
Thus the order 3,6,9 etc. of the interference maxima will be
missing on both sides of the central maxima. There will be three
interference maxima in the central diffraction maximum.
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(iii) If a+b=a, i.e.b=0.
The two slits join and all the orders of the interference
maxima will be missing. The diffraction pattern will be
similar to due to a single slit of width equal to 2a.

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21
Diffraction grating

A diffraction grating is an optical

component with a periodic structure, which
splits and diffracts light into several beams
travelling in different directions for
separating the colors in incident light.
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The directions of these beams depend on the spacing
of the grating and the wavelength of the light so that
the grating acts as the dispersive element. Because of
this, gratings are commonly used in monochromators
and spectrometers.

The condition for maximum intensity

is the same as that for a double slit.
However, angular separation of the
maxima is generally much greater
because the slit spacing is so small for
a diffraction grating.

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Gratings may be of the 'reflective' or 'transmissive' type,
analogous to a mirror or lens respectively. A grating has a
'zero-order mode' (where m=0), in which there is no
diffraction and a ray of light behaves according to the laws
of reflection and refraction the same as with a mirror or lens
respectively.

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Longer wavelength diffracted
more through a diffraction
grating but refracted less
through a prism.

25
Resolving power of a plane diffraction grating

Resolving Power: The ability of an optical device to produce separate

image of close objects.

The resolving power of grating is the ratio of wavelength of any

spectral line to the difference in wavelengths between this line and
neighboring line such that the two lines appear to be just resolved. i.e

The resolving power of an instrument gives a

measure of its ability to produce detectably
separate images of objects which are close
together. The closer the angular separation ∆θ
of the detectable images, the higher is the
instrument's resolving power.
Resolving power of grating = λ/dλ

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Let, P1 be the nth primary maximum of spectral line of wavelength
λ of diffraction angle θn
P2 be the nth primary maximum of spectral line of
wavelength (λ+dλ) of diffraction angle (θn+d θ)

For the nth primary maximum for wavelength λ

(a+b) sin θn= nλ…………………..(1)

For the nth primary maximum for wavelength (λ+dλ)

(a+b) sin (θn+d θ)= n (λ+dλ) ….……..(2)

For resolved, the (θn+dθ) correspond the direction of first secondary

minimum after nth primary maximum at P of wavelength λ

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Extra path difference= λ/N

Where N is the number of lines on the grating surface.

So, (a+b) sin (θn+d θ)= nλ+λ/N……………..(3)

From equations (2) and (3)

n (λ+dλ)= nλ+λ/N
λ/d λ=n N…………….(4)

For central maximum n=0, hence resolving power is

zero.

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 Dispersive power of grating is defined by the ratio of change
in angle of diffraction to corresponding change in wave
length.

dispersive power of a grating is given by

d n
= .................................(5)
d (a + b) cos 

Therefore , the resolving power of a grating can be expressed as

 d
= nN = N (a + b) cos  .................................(6)
d d

So, Resolving Power of grating =Total aperture x dispersive power.

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The ability of the spectrometer to resolve two close spectral lines is
called the Chromatic Resolving Power R and is defined by
R= λ/∆λmin= θ/∆θmin
where ∆λmin is the minimum wavelength separation for two lines which
are just resolved, and λ is the average wavelength of these two lines.

The resolving power in the mth-order

diffraction is R = Nm
N is the number of slits
m is the order number
Resolving power increases with increasing
order number and with increasing number of
illuminated slits

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