Lecture #8

Content to be covered
❑ Single slit diffraction
❖ Expression for resultant intensity
❖ Position of maxima (Central and Secondary)
❖ Position of minima
❖ Intensity at secondary maxima
❖ Spread of central diffraction maximum

Resources to be consulted
❑ OPTICS by Ajay Ghatak

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 Single Slit Diffraction

A1
A2

A3

An

Imagine AB divided into n (very
large) number of equal parts,
where, each part is source of
secondary wavelets.
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Path difference, Δ, between waves from A and B
reaching at P = BN. From ΔABN BN = Δ = b sinθ.
Thus phase difference
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 Single Slit Diffraction
The phase difference between any two
successive parts of slit AB would be A
A
1
Thus if disturbance at point P due to point A1 is a cos ωt 2A
then from point A2: a cos (ωt - φ); from point A3: a cos
3
(ωt - 2φ); from point AN: a cos (ωt – (N-1)φ)
A
Thus, resultant disturbance at point P would be n

formula in last slide of lecture 7.

where Let

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 Single Slit Diffraction
But for value of n,

where Therefore

where A = na

Thus resultant intensity at P

Let

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 Position Of Maxima And Minima In Single
Slit Diffraction
Principal/Central Maxima
The resultant amplitude is given by

Thus R will be maximum when β = 0 → R = A = na

we will use limit in (sin beta )/beta.

This is the location of central maxima.

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 Position Of Maxima And Minima In Single
Slit Diffraction
Minima
Re-consider the equation

The resultant amplitude R will be minimum when sin β = 0 but β ≠ 0

i.e. β = ±π ,±2π ,±3π ,±4π ..., ±nπ

where n = 1,2,3…. gives the condition of 1st,

2nd, 3rd, minima. Here n ≠ 0, because for n = 0,
θ = 0 which corresponds central maxima.

This is the condition for minima.

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 Position Of Maxima And Minima In Single
Slit Diffraction

Let us consider the condition for minima

Position of first minima would be

Position of second minima would be

Further

since

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 Position Of Maxima And Minima In Single
Slit Diffraction
Secondary Maxima Apply the method of
finding maxima and
minima

Differentiating above equation with respect to β

But here sinβ=0 or β=

mπ gives the position
of primary mth minima,
except when β=0.

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 Position Of Maxima And Minima In Single
Slit Diffraction
Thus, the position of secondary maxima is given by the equation:
β= tan β (secondary maxima)
Here, β=0 corresponds to the central maximum.
Note: The other roots can be obtained by determining the points of intersections of the
curves, y= β and y=tan β by graphical method.
From the graph, other roots which satisfy the
equation are

The more exact values are 1.430π, 2.46 π, 3.47 π,

4.471 π….

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 Position Of Maxima And Minima In Single
Slit Diffraction
Intensity Calculations
Thus, directions of secondary maxima are Intensity of diffraction pattern is given as,
approximately:

Intensity of Principal maximum: β = 0

The intensity of secondary maxima

(first secondary
maxima i.e. for n = 1)

So, secondary maxima lie at

b sinθ = 3λ/2, 5 λ /2, 7 λ /2 etc as
first, second, third etc....

Thus Intensity of first secondary maxima (I1) is

4.6% of principal maxima (I0).
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 Intensity Of Maxima And Minima In Single
Slit Diffraction
Similarly, for intensity of second secondary maxima
let us substitute,

Thus Intensity of second secondary maxima (I2) is 1.6% of principal maxima (I0).
I3 is 0.83% of I0.
One can similarly calculate I3, I4, I5,…. From the above values of intensities, it is obvious that
intensity of secondary maxima decreases as the order increases.
Ratio of Principal maximum to secondary maxima:
I0:I1 :I2 :I3 …….= 1: 4/9π2 : 4/25π2: 4/49π2…

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 Spread of central diffraction maximum
Direction of first minima is given by

If the lens is very near to the slit,

then L ≈ f.

the width of central maxima is the distance between first secondary minima on either side of central bright fringe.
where, y is the linear half
width of the central maxima
and f is the focal length of
the lens. b is slit width
b sin theta =n lambda
for central maxima n=1.

y/L =lambda/b
y/f = lambda/b
Hence, the width of central
Maxima is given by

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 Diffraction pattern from a single slit:
Angular positions of maxima and minima

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 Single Slit Fraunhofer diffraction:
Effect of slit width
resultant amplitude is R=A sin(beta) / beta .

Principle maxima, β = 0, I = I0 = A2

Minima, sin β = 0, β = nπ beta =(pi b sin theta )/lambda

First minima at sin θ = ±λ/b and

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 Single Slit Diffraction

The longer wavelength is diffracted

more that the shorter one.

Narrower slits diffract more than wider ones

Slits farther : Maxima closer

Slits closer : Maxima farther

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Single Slit Diffraction vs Double slit Interference

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