Diffraction & Interference

Diffraction

▪ Diffraction is the spreading out of waves when they pass an

obstruction
✓ This obstruction is typically a narrow slit (an aperture)
▪ The extent of diffraction depends on the width of the gap
compared with the wavelength of the waves
✓ Diffraction is the most prominent when the width of the
slit is approximately equal to the wavelength

Diffraction: when a wave passes through a narrow gap,

it spreads out
Diffraction

▪ Diffraction is usually represented by a wavefront as shown

by the vertical lines in the diagram above
▪ The only property of a wave that changes when its
diffracted is its amplitude
✓ This is because some energy is dissipated when a wave
is diffracted through a gap
▪ Diffraction can also occur when waves curve around an
edge:

▪ Any type of wave can be diffracted i.e. When a wave goes past the edge of a barrier, the waves can curve around it
sound, light, water
Interference & Coherence

▪ Interference occurs when waves overlap and their resultant displacement is the sum of the displacement of
each wave
▪ This result is based on the principle of superposition and the resultant waves may be smaller or larger than
either of the two individual waves
▪ Interference of two waves can either be:
✓ In phase, causing constructive interference. The peaks and troughs line up on both waves. The resultant
wave has double the amplitude
✓ In anti-phase, causing destructive interference. The peaks on one wave line up with the troughs of the
other. The resultant wave has no amplitude
Interference & Coherence

Waves in superposition can undergo constructive or

destructive interference
Interference & Coherence

▪ At points where the two waves are neither in

phase nor in antiphase, the resultant amplitude is
somewhere in between the two extremes
▪ Waves are coherent if they have the
same frequency and constant phase difference

▪ Coherence is vital in order to produce an observable

interference pattern
▪ Laser light is an example of a coherent light source,
whereas filament lamps produce incoherent light
Coherent v non-coherent wave. The abrupt change in phase creates an
waves inconsistent phase difference
Interference & Coherence

The diagram shows the interferences of coherent waves from

two point sources.
Demonstrating Two Source Interference

▪ Interference of sound, light and microwaves can be

demonstrated with slits or diffraction gratings

Using Water Waves

▪ Two-source interference in can be demonstrated in
water using ripple tanks
▪ The diagram below shows diffracted circle shaped
water waves from two point sources eg. dropping
two pebbles near to each other in a pond

▪ The two waves interfere causing areas of

constructive and destructive interference
▪ The lines of maximum displacement occur when all
the peaks and troughs line up with those on another
wave
Demonstrating Two Source Interference

Using Sound Waves

▪ Two source interference for sound waves looks very similar
to water waves
▪ Sound waves are longitudinal waves so are
made up of compressions and rarefactions
▪ Constructive interference occurs when two
compressions or two rarefactions line up and
the sound appears louder
▪ Destructive interference occurs when a
compression lines up with a rarefaction and
vice versa. The sound is quieter
✓ This is the technology used in noise-
cancelling headphones
Double Slit Interference

▪ Young’s double slit experiment demonstrates how light

waves produced an interference pattern
▪ The experiment is shown below
Double Slit Interference

▪ When a monochromatic light source is placed behind a single slit,

the light is diffracted producing two light sources at the double
slits A and B
▪ Since both light sources originate from the same primary source,
they are coherent and will therefore create an observable
interference pattern
▪ Both diffracted light from the double slits create an interference
pattern made up of bright and dark fringes
▪ The wavelength of the light can be calculated from the
interference pattern and experiment set up. These are related
using the double-slit equation
Double Slit Interference

▪ The interference pattern on a screen will show as

‘fringes’ which are dark or bright bands
▪ Constructive interference is shown
through bright fringes with varying intensity
(most intense in the middle)
▪ Destructive interference is shown
from dark fringes where no light is seen
▪ A monochromatic light source makes these
fringes clearer and the distance between fringes
is very small due to the short wavelength of
visible light
Double Slit Interference

A laser is placed in front of a double-slit as shown in the

diagram below.

The laser emits light of frequency 750 THz. The separation of

the maxima P and Q observed on the screen is 15 mm. The
distance between the double slit and the screen is 4.5
m.Calculate the separation of the two slits.
The Diffraction Grating

▪ A diffraction grating is a plate on which there is a very large

number of parallel, identical, close-spaced slits
▪ When monochromatic light is incident on a grating, a
pattern of narrow bright fringes is produced on a screen
The Diffraction Grating

▪ The angles at which the maxima of intensity (constructive

interference) are produced can be deduced by the
diffraction grating equation

Diffraction grating equation for the angle of bright fringes

The Diffraction Grating

▪ Exam questions sometime state the lines per m (or per mm,
per nm etc.) on the grating which is represented by the
symbol N
▪ a can be calculated from N using the equation
The Diffraction Grating

Angular Separation

▪ The angular separation of each maxima is calculated by

rearranging the grating equation to make θ the subject
▪ The angle θ is taken from the centre meaning the higher
orders are at greater angles

▪ The angular separation between two angles is

found by subtracting the smaller angle from the
larger one
▪ The angular separation between the first and
second maxima n1 and n2 is θ2 – θ1
The Diffraction Grating

The fringe spacing

▪ The wavelength of light = λ

▪ The value of θ, the angle to the specific order of maximum
measured from the centre
▪ The distance from the grating to the screen is marked as D
▪ The distance between the centre and the order of maxima
(e.g. n = 2 in the diagram) on the screen is labelled as h - the
fringe spacing
▪ This makes a right-angled triangle with the angle θ as the
ratio of the h/D = tanθ
The Diffraction Grating

An experiment was set up to investigate light passing through a

diffraction grating with a slit spacing of 1.7 µm. The fringe
pattern was observed on a screen. The wavelength of the light
is 550 nm.

Calculate the angle α between the two second-order lines.