DIFFRACTION

Unit 2
 DIFFRACTION
When waves encounter an aperture or an
obstacle or an edge that has the dimension
comparable to the wavelength of the
waves, those waves spread out as they
travel, and undergo interference.
This is called Diffracton.
 Diffraction also supports the wave theory of light
 Light of wavelength comparable to or larger than the width of a slit
( >> a) spreads out in all forward directions upon passing through
the slit
 Diffraction Pattern, Object Edge

This shows a diffraction pattern associated with light

from a single source passing by the edge of an opaque
object
The diffraction pattern is vertical with the central
maximum at the bottom
Two Kinds of Diffraction
1) FRESNEL’S DIFFRACTION
The source and the screen are placed at a finite
distance from the aperture of the obstacle having sharp
edges

2) FRAUNHOFER’S DIFFRACTION
The source and the screen are placed at infinity or at
optically infinity
Diffraction Pattern from Narrow Slits
 A Fraunhofer diffraction pattern
occurs when the rays leave the
diffracting object in parallel
directions
 Screen very far from the slit
 Could be accomplished by a
converging lens
 A bright fringe is seen along the axis
( = 0)
 Alternating bright and dark fringes
are seen on each side
 Fraunhofer Diffraction at
Single-Slit
The finite width of slits is the
basis for understanding
Fraunhofer diffraction
According to Huygens’s
principle:
Each portion of the slit acts as a
source of light waves
Therefore, light from one portion
of the slit can interfere with light
from another portion
 As shown in the figure AB is a narrow slit of width a perpendicular to the plane
of the paper.
 Consider a plane wavefront WW’ of monochromatic light of wavelength λ
propagating perpendicular to the slit to be incident on it.
 The diffracted light is focused, by using a convex lens, on a screen placed in the
focal plane of the lens.
 The secondary wavelets travelling perpendicular to the slit (along the direction
of OP0) are brought to focus at P0 by the lens.
 Hence, P0 is bright central image.
 Now the secondary wavelets traveling at an angle θ with the normal are
focused at a point P1 on the screen.
 The intensity at point P1 depends upon the path difference between the
secondary waves originating from the corresponding points of the
wavefront.
 To find the intensity at P1, draw a perpendicular AC on BR.
 Using the method of vector addition of amplitudes, the resultant amplitude
R is given by:

(here n ∞ , A0 0, but nA0 = A remains finite)

The intensity I is given by:
Condition for diffraction maxima
The path difference should be equal to the odd number multiple of half-
wavelength.
asin = (2n -1)/2 where n = 0,1,2,3…….
Condition for diffraction minima
The path difference should be equal to the whole number of multiple of
wavelength 
asin = n where n = 1,2,3…….except zero
Diffraction through double
slits
Fraunhofer Diffraction at Double slits

 Consider a beam of monochromatic light of wavelength λ incident

normally on two narrow slits CD and EF as shown in figure.
 The width of each slit is a and the width of opaque portion is b.
The diffracted light is focussed on screen by convex lens L.
The secondary wavelets travelling perpendicular to the slits
(along the direction of OP) are brought to focus at P by the lens.
So P is the position of central maximum.
Since the slits are very narrow, each slit will give rise to diffracted
rays.
These diffracted rays then interfere with one another and give
final pattern.
Thus, the final pattern is the superposition of interference
pattern on diffraction pattern.
Interference Maxima and Minima
Let us consider the secondary waves diffracted in a
direction inclined at an angle θ with the initial direction.
So the path difference between the consecutive interfering
rays CL and EX from two consecutive slits is:
EN = (a+b)sinθ
If the path difference is whole If the path difference is odd
number multiple of λ, then θ will number multiple of λ/2, then θ
give direction of interference will give direction of interference
minima.
maxima.
So the condition for interference
So the condition for interference minima is :
maxima is :
(a+b)sinθ = (2n – 1)λ/2
(a+b)sinθ = nλ where n = 1,2,3,……
where n = 0, 1,2,3……
Interference Minima
Interference Maxima
Diffraction Maxima and Minima
Let us consider secondary waves diffracted in a direction
inclined at an angle θ with the initial direction of incident
light. The path difference between the two diffracted beam
CL and DY emanating from the first slit is:
DM = asinθ
If the path difference is odd If the path difference is whole
number multiple of λ/2, then number multiple of λ, then θ will
give direction of diffraction
θ will give direction of minima.
diffraction maxima. So the condition for diffraction
So the condition for minima is :
diffraction maxima is :
asinθ = nλ where n
= 1,2,3………except zero.
asinθ = (2n – 1)λ/2
where n = 0,1,2,3……
Diffraction Minima
Diffraction Maxima
Resultant Intensity at point P1
Diffraction by N parallel slits
Diffraction Grating
A (transmission) diffraction grating
is an arrangement of identical,
equally spaced parallel lines ruled
on glass.
A typical diffraction grating will
have something like 600 lines per
600mm-1
millimetre
Diffraction gratings are used to
produce optical spectra
Light of wavelength
λ, normal to the
grating A Each of the clear spaces
(A,B,C etc) acts like a
d
very narrow slit and
produces its own
diffraction.
B
The light is from the same
monochromatic source
θ and therefore is coherent.
C
Light of wavelength Consider the light which is
λ, normal to the diffracted by each slit at
grating A some angle θ to the
θ normal.
d
θ
B The slits are equally
spaced so that if angle θ
produces light that phase
θ at A and B (and therefore
C
positively reinforces )
then the light will also be
in phase from every
other slit and also
produce positive
reinforcement.
Light of wavelength
When the waves reinforce
λ, normal to the
grating each other the path
A
θ
difference AN is a full
N
number of wavelengths .
d
θ
B That means that
AN =nλ
where n is a whole number
θ
As:
C AN = d sin θ

dsinθ = nλ
Diffraction Grating
The angle θ will be slightly different for each
wavelength of light and so the grating separates
white light into its spectrum and does this much
more effectively than a prism.
The light needs to be focussed with the eyepiece
lens of a telescope or spectrometer ( or the lens of
the eye) after it emerges from the grating.
The Diffraction Grating
A diffraction grating with a large number of lines
produces very sharp maxima and completely
destructive interference at other angles
Intensity distribution for
diffraction through n slits
Dispersive Power of Grating
The rate at which the angle of diffraction varies
with wavelength.
The factor (d/d) -----dispersive power
The diffraction of the nth order principal maximun for a wavelength  is
(a+b)sin = n

Differentiating w.r.t  we get

(a+b)cos d = nd

d/ d = n/[(a+b)cos ]
Resolving power of Grating
 The ability of an optical instrument to produce separate
images of two objects very close together is called its
resolving power.

 The resolving power of a grating is defined as the ratio of

the wavelength of any spectral line to the difference in
wavelength between this line and a neighboring line such
that the two lines appear to be just resolved.
 Thus, resolving power of the grating is ,
R.P. =  /d =nN
The resolving power of grating
= order of spectrum x
total number of lines on grating
Also,  /d =N(a+b)sin/

where N(a+b) is the total width of the grating

The limit of resolution is d =/nN