Chapter 37 - Interference

and Diffraction
AA PowerPoint
PowerPoint Presentation
Presentation by
by
Paul
Paul E.
E. Tippens,
Tippens, Professor
Professor of
of Physics
Physics
Southern
Southern Polytechnic
Polytechnic State
State University
University

© 2007
Objectives: After completing this
module, you should be able to:
• Define and apply concepts of constructive
interference, destructive interference,
diffraction, and resolving power.
• Describe Young’s experiment and be able to
predict the location of dark and bright fringes
formed from the interference of light waves.

• Discuss the use of a diffraction grating, derive

the grating equation, and apply it to the
solution of optical problems.
 Diffraction of Light
Diffraction
Diffraction isis the
the ability
ability of
of light
light waves
waves to
to bend
bend
around
around obstacles
obstacles placed
placed in
in their
their path.
path.

Ocean Beach Light rays

Fuzzy Shadow

Water waves easily bend around obstacles, but

light waves also bend, as evidenced by the lack
of a sharp shadow on the wall.
 Water Waves
A wave generator sends periodic water waves
into a barrier with a small gap, as shown below.

AA new
new set
set of
of waves
waves isis observed
observed
emerging
emerging from
from the
the gap
gap toto the
the wall.
wall.
Interference of Water Waves
An interference pattern is set up by water
waves leaving two slits at the same instant.
 Young’s Experiment
In Young’s experiment, light from a monochromatic
source falls on two slits, setting up an interference
pattern analogous to that with water waves.

Light
source S1

S2
 The Superposition Principle
• The resultant displacement of two simul-
taneous waves (blue and green) is the
algebraic sum of the two displacements.
• The composite wave is shown in yellow.

Constructive Interference Destructive Interference

The superposition of two coherent light waves

results in light and dark fringes on a screen.
 Young’s Interference Pattern
s1 Constructive
Bright fringe
s2
s1
s2
Dark fringe
Destructive
s1
s2

Constructive
Bright fringe
 Conditions for Bright Fringes
Bright fringes occur when the difference in path p
is an integral multiple of one wave length .

p1   
p2
p3
p4

Path difference Bright fringes:

p = 0,  , 2, 3, … p = n, n = 0, 1, 2, . . .
 Conditions for Dark Fringes
Dark fringes occur when the difference in path p
is an odd multiple of one-half of a wave length .
 
p1 p  n
2
p2 
2
n = odd
p3  n=
p3 1,3,5 …


Dark fringes: p  n n  1, 3, 5, 7, . . .
2
Analytical Methods for Fringes
x Path difference
s1 d sin 
determines light
d  and dark pattern.
s2 p1
y p = p1 – p2
p2
p = d sin 

Bright fringes: d sin  = n, n = 0, 1, 2, 3, . . .

Dark fringes: d sin  = n, n = 1, 3, 5, . . .
 Analytical Methods (Cont.)
x From geometry,
s1 d sin  we recall that:
d  sin   tan  
y
s2 p1 x
y So that . . .
p2
dy
d sin  
x

Bright fringes: Dark fringes:

dy dy 
 n , n  0, 1, 2, ...  n , n  1, 3, 5...
x x 2
Example 1: Two slits are 0.08 mm apart, and
the screen is 2 m away. How far is the third
dark fringe located from the central maximum if
light of wavelength 600 nm is used?
x = 2 m; d = 0.08 mm x
s1 d sin 
 = 600 nm; y = ? 
d sin  = 5(/2) s2 y
The third dark fringe
n = 1, 3, 5
occurs when n = 5

Dark fringes:
 dy 5
dy
 n , n  1, 3, 5... 
x 2 x 2
Example 1 (Cont.): Two slits are 0.08 mm
apart, and the screen is 2 m away. How far is
the third dark fringe located from the central
maximum if  = 600 nm?
x = 2 m; d = 0.08 mm s1 x
d sin 
 = 600 nm; y = ? 
s2 y
dy 5

x 2 n = 1, 3, 5

5 x 5(600 x 10-9 m)(2 m)

y  yy == 3.75
2d 2(0.08 x 10-3 m) 3.75 cm
cm
 The Diffraction Grating
AA diffraction
diffraction grating
grating consists
consists of
of thousands
thousands of of
parallel
parallel slits
slits etched
etched on
on glass
glass so
so that
that brighter
brighter and
and
sharper
sharper patterns
patterns cancan be
be observed
observed thanthan with
with
Young
Young’s’s experiment.
experiment. Equation
Equation isis similar.
similar.
d sin 

d 

d sin n
n = 1, 2, 3, …
 The Grating Equation

The grating equation: 
d sin  n n 1, 2, 3, ... 
1st
order
d = slit width (spacing)
 = wavelength of light 

 = angular deviation 
2nd
n = order of fringe order
Example 2: Light (600 nm) strikes a grating ruled
with 300 lines/mm. What is the angular deviation
of the 2nd order bright fringe?
To find slit separation,
we take reciprocal of
300 lines/mm: n=2

Lines/mm  mm/line 300 lines/mm

1
d  0.00333 mm/line
300 lines/mm
mm  103 m 
d  0.00333   d  3 x 10 m -6
line  1 mm 
Example (Cont.) 2: A grating is ruled with 300
lines/mm. What is the angular deviation of the
2nd order bright fringe?

= 600 nm
d  3 x 10-6 m n=2

300 lines/mm
d sin   n n2
2 2(600 x 10-9 m)
sin    -6
; sin   0.360
d 3.33 x 10
Angular deviation of
second order fringe is: 22 == 21.1
21.100
A compact disk acts as a diffraction grating. The colors
and intensity of the reflected light depend on the
orientation of the disc relative to the eye.
 Interference From Single Slit
When monochromatic light strikes a single slit,
diffraction from the edges produces an interference
pattern as illustrated.
Relative intensity

Pattern Exaggerated

The interference results from the fact that not all

paths of light travel the same distance some
arrive out of phase.
Single Slit Interference Pattern
a Each point inside slit
sin  acts as a source.
2
For rays 1 and 3
a/2 and for 2 and 4:
a
a 1 p  sin 
a/2 2 2
3 First dark fringe:
4 a 
5 sin  
2 2
For every ray there is another ray that differs by
this path and therefore interferes destructively.
Single Slit Interference Pattern
a
sin  a 
2 sin  
2 2
First dark fringe:
a/2
1 
a sin  
a/2 2 a
3
4 Other dark fringes occur
5 for integral multiples of
this fraction /a.
Example 3: Monochromatic light shines on a
single slit of width 0.45 mm. On a screen 1.5 m
away, the first dark fringe is displaced 2 mm
from the central maximum. What is the
wavelength of the light?
=?
 x = 1.5 m
sin    y
a
a = 0.35 mm
y y  ya
sin   tan   ;  ; 
x x a x
(0.002 m)(0.00045 m)
 = 600 nm
1.50 m
Diffraction for a Circular Opening

Circular diffraction

The
The diffraction
diffraction of
of light
light passing
passing through
through aa circular
circular
opening
opening produces
produces circular
circular interference
interference fringes
fringes
that
that often
often blur
blur images.
images. ForFor optical
optical instruments,
instruments,
the
the problem
problem increases
increases with
with larger diameters DD..
larger diameters
 Resolution of Images
Consider
Consider light
light through
through aa pinhole.
pinhole. As
As two
two objects
objects
get
get closer
closer thethe interference
interference fringes
fringes overlap,
overlap,
making
making itit difficult
difficult to
to distinguish
distinguish separate
separate images.
images.

Clear image of Separate images

each object barely seen

d1 d2
 Resolution Limit
Images
Images areare just
just resolved
resolved Resolution
when
when central
central maximum
maximum limit
of
of one
one pattern
pattern coincides
coincides
with
with first
first dark
dark fringe
fringe of
of d2
the
the other
other pattern.
pattern.

Separate images Resolution Limit

Resolving Power of Instruments
The
The resolving
resolving power
power ofof
an
an instrument
instrument isis aa
measure of its ability
measure of its ability toto D 

produce
produce well-defined
well-defined
separate
separate images.
images. Limiting angle

For
For small
small angles, sin 
angles, sin  ,
, and
and the
the limiting
limiting
angle
angle of
of resolution
resolution for
for aa circular
circular opening
opening is:is:

Limiting
Limiting angle
angle of
of 
 0  1.22
resolution:
resolution: D
 Resolution and Distance
p

so  D 

Limiting angle o

Limiting Angle  s0
 0  1.22 
of Resolution: D p
Example 4: The tail lights ( = 632 nm) of an
auto are 1.2 m apart and the pupil of the eye
is around 2 mm in diameter. How far away can
the tail lights be resolved as separate images?
p

so  D 

Tail lights Eye


s0 s0 D
 0  1.22  p
D p 1.22
(1.2 m)(0.002 m)
p p = 3.11 km
1.22(632 x 10-9 m)
 Summary
Young’s x
Experiment: s1 d sin 

Monochromatic d 
light falls on two s2 p1
slits, producing y
p2
interference fringes
dy
on a screen. d sin  
x

Bright fringes: Dark fringes:

dy dy 
 n , n  0, 1, 2, ...  n , n  1, 3, 5...
x x 2
 Summary (Cont.)

The grating equation:

d sin  n n 1, 2, 3, ...

d = slit width (spacing)  = angular deviation

 = wavelength of light n = order of fringe
 Summary (Cont.)
Interference
Interference from
from aa single
single slit
slit of
of width
width aa::
Relative Intensity

Pattern Exaggerated


Dark Fringes: sin   n n  1, 2, 3, . . .
a
 Summary (cont.)
The
The resolving
resolving power
power of
of instruments.
instruments.

so  D 

Limiting angle o

Limiting Angle  s0
 0  1.22 
of Resolution: D p
 CONCLUSION: Chapter 37
Interference and Diffraction