INDEX

S.no Topic

1 Introduction

2
Understanding Diffraction

3 Experimental Analysis

4 Conclusion

5 Bibliography
 Matter of Report

Introduction to Diffraction

A. What is Diffraction?

“Diffraction is a slight bending of light as it passes

around the edge of an object. The amount of bending

depends on the relative size of the wavelength of light

to the size of the opening. If the opening is much larger

than the light’s wavelength, the bending will be almost

unnoticeable.”

Diffraction refers to various phenomena that occur when a wave encounters an obstacle or

a slit. It is defined as the bending of light around the corners of an obstacle or aperture into

the region of geometrical shadow of the obstacle.

In classical physics, the diffraction phenomenon is described as the interference of waves

according to the Huygens–Fresnel principle. These characteristic behaviors are exhibited

when a wave encounters an obstacle or a slit that is comparable in size to its wavelength.

Diffraction occurs with all waves, including sound waves, water waves,

and electromagnetic waves such as visible light, rays and radio waves.
If we look clearly at the shadow cast by an opaque object, close to the region of geometrical

shadow, there are alternate dark and bright regions, just like in interference. This is just due

to the phenomenon of the diffraction, which is a general characteristic exhibited by all types

of the waves.

Since wavelength of light is much smaller than the dimensions of most of the obstacles, we

do not generally encounter the effects of diffraction of light in the everyday life

observations. However the finite resolution of our eye or of the optical fiber instruments

such as telescopes or microscopes is limited due to the phenomenon of diffraction

Since physical objects have wave-like properties, diffraction also occurs with matter and

can be studied according to the principles of quantum mechanics. Italian scientist

Francesco Maria Grimaldi coined the word "diffraction" and was the first to record accurate

observations of the phenomenon in 1660.

B. History of Diffraction

The effects of diffraction of light were first carefully observed and characterized by

Francesco Maria Grimaldi, who also coined the term diffraction, from the Latin

diffringere, 'to break into pieces', referring to light breaking up into different directions.

Isaac Newton studied these effects and attributed them to inflexion of light rays. Thomas

Young performed an experiment in 1803 demonstrating interference from two closely

spaced slits. Explaining his results by interference of the waves emanating from the two

Different slits, he deduced that light must propagate as waves.

C. When Does Diffraction Occurs

Diffraction occurs whenever propagating waves encounter changes, its effects are generally

most pronounced for waves whose wavelength is roughly comparable to the dimensions of

the diffracting object or slit. If the obstructing object provides multiple, closely spaced

openings, a complex pattern of varying intensity can result.

This is due to the addition, or interference, of different parts of a wave that travel to the

observer by different paths, where different path lengths result in different phases. The

formalism of diffraction can also describe the way in which waves of finite extent propagate

in free space.
 UNDERSTANDING DIFFRACTION

A. Mechanism

In traditional classical physics diffraction arises because of the way in which waves

propagate; this is described by the

Huygens–Fresnel principle and the principle of

superposition of waves. The propagation of a wave

can be

visualized by considering every particle of the transmitted medium on a wave front as a

point source for a secondary spherical wave. The wave displacement at any subsequent

point is the sum of these secondary waves. When waves are added together, their sum is

determined by the relative phases as well as the amplitudes of the individual waves so that

the summed amplitude of the waves can have any value between zero and the sum of the

individual amplitudes. Hence, diffraction patterns usually have a series of maxima and

minima.
B. Types of Diffraction

a) Single-slit diffraction

A long slit of infinitesimal width which is illuminated by light diffracts the light into a

series of circular waves and the wave front which emerges from the slit is a cylindrical

wave of uniform intensity.

A slit which is wider than a wavelength

produces interference effects in the space

downstream of the slit. These can be

explained by assuming that the slit behaves as

though it has a large number of point sources

spaced evenly across the width of the slit. The

analysis of this system is simplified if we

consider light of a single wavelength. If the incident light is coherent, these sources all have

the same phase.

Light incident at a given point in the space downstream of the slit is made up of

contributions from each of these point sources and if the relative phases of these

contributions vary by 2π or more, we may expect to find minima and maxima in the

diffracted light. Such phase differences are caused by differences in the path lengths over

which contributing rays reach the point from the slit.

When the double slit in young’s double slit

experiment is replaced by a single narrow slit

illuminated by a monochromatic source, a broad

pattern with a central bright region is seen. On

both sides there are alternate bright and dark

fringes and regions, the intensity becoming

weaker away from the centre.

We can find the angle at which a first minimum is obtained in the diffracted light by the

following reasoning. The light from a source located at the top edge of the slit interferes

destructively with a source located at the middle of the slit, when the path difference

between them is equal to λ/2.

Similarly, the source just below the top of the slit will interfere destructively with the source

located just below the middle of the slit at the same angle. Along the entire height of the

slit, the condition for destructive interference for the entire slit is the same as the condition

for destructive interference between two narrow slits a distance apart that is half the width

of the slit.

If light consisted strictly of ordinary or classical particle, and these particles were fired in

a straight line through a slit and allowed to strike a screen on the other side we would expect

to see a pattern corresponding to the size and shape of the slit. However when the single

slit experiment is actually performed the pattern on the screen is a diffraction pattern in

which the light is spread out.

The smaller the slit, the greater the angle of the spread.
b) Double Slit Diffraction

If light consisted of classical particles and we

illuminated two parallel slits, the expected pattern on

screen simply be the sum of the two single slit

patterns. In reality however, the pattern changes to

one with a series of light and dark bands.

When this phenomenon was studied, it indicated that light consists of waves as distribution

of brightness can be explained by the alternately constructive and destructive interference

of wave fronts.

The modern double - slit experiment is a

demonstration that light and matter can display

characteristics of both classically defined waves

and particles. A simpler form of the double-slit

experiment was performed originally by Thomas

Young in 1801. He believed it demonstrated that

the wave theory of light was correct, the

experiment in which a wave is split into two

separate waves that later combine into a single

wave. Changes in the path lengths of both waves

result in a phase shift, creating an interference pattern.

In the experiment, a coherent light source, such as a laser beam, illuminates a plate with

two parallel slits, and the light passing through the slits is observed on a screen behind the

plate. The wave nature of light causes the

light waves passing through the two slits to

interfere, producing bright and dark bands on

the screen. However, the light is always

found to be absorbed at the screen at discrete

points, as individual particles (not waves),

the interference pattern appearing via the

varying density of these particle hits on the

screen

Other entities, such as electrons, are found to exhibit the same

behavior when fired towards a double slit.

The experiment can be done with

entities much larger than electrons and

photons, although it becomes more

difficult as size increases. The largest

entities for which the double-slit

experiment has been performed were

molecules that each comprised 810

atoms, whose total mass was over 10,000 atomic mass units.
The double slit experiment for its clarity in

expressing the results of quantum mechanics.

Because it demonstrates the fundamental

limitation of the ability of the observer to predict

experimental results, Richard Feynman called it

"a phenomenon which is

impossible to explain.
c) Diffraction Events

The amount of bending which occurs is based on the wavelength of the light or the objects

size in relation to light's wavelength. In addition to bending, light is sometimes broken into

its basic components. These components are the colors of the rainbow red, orange, yellow,

green, blue, indigo and violet (ROYGBIV).Red light has the longest wavelength, while

violet has the shortest. This is why red is typically the prominent color in a rainbow and

appears to be wider than violet light.

Full lunar eclipses permit light waves to bend

around the edges of the moon to let the side

facing earth remain visible, albeit an

orangebrown color instead of the white color.

This is a due to the distance of the moon from

earth, allowing the moon to completely cover the

sun.

d) Diffraction and Interference

Diffraction is the bending of waves around an obstacle, while Interference is the meeting

of two waves during the diffraction process and usually happens when there are two or

more slits. Interference of the light waves with each other causes the diffracted light to

become brighter or dimmer during the diffraction process because of what we call

destructive and constructive interference. Also in diffraction and interference, light

energy is redistributed. If it reduces in one region, producing a dark fringe, it increases in

another region producing a bright fringe. Hence there is no gain or loss of energy which

is consistent with the principle of conservation of Energy.

e) Examples and Applications of

Diffraction

The effects of diffraction are often seen in

everyday life.

i. The closely spaced tracks on a CD

or DVD act as a diffraction grating

to form the familiar rainbow pattern

seen when looking at a disc.

ii. This principle can be extended to engineer a grating with a structure such that

it will produce any

diffraction pattern

desired;

the hologram on a book is an example.

iii. Iridescent clouds are a diffraction

phenomenon caused by small water

droplets or small ice crystals individually

scattering light.
iv. The setting sun appears to be red because

of the diffraction of light from the dust

particle in the atmosphere.

v. DJ/ Party Lights, Diffraction glasses, for

Fireworks, Light shows, 3d movies,

Lasers are based on diffraction.

vi. Twinkling stars are another example of

diffraction of light. As light from stars

pass through the earth's atmosphere

which is laden with water vapor, the

light bends around the water droplets

causing the twinkling effect. The light

waves become brighter or dimmer and

the colors constantly change due to

constructive and destructive

interference.

vii. When light passes through solid objects

like diamonds, it diffracts giving

diffraction patterns which depend upon

the type, nature and shape of the material.

Diffraction in the atmosphere by small particles can cause a bright ring to be visible

around a bright light source like the sun or the moon. A shadow of a solid object,

using light from a compact source, shows small fringes near its edges. The speckle
 pattern which is observed when laser light falls on an optically rough surface is also

a diffraction phenomenon.

EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS OF DIFFRACTION

1. Single Slit Diffraction

Aim: Experiment to study the phenomena of single slit diffraction.

Requirements: Two Razor Blade, One glass electric Bulb, Filter, Black Paper

Procedure:

a) Hold the two blades so that the edges

are parallel and have a narrow slit in

between. This can be done easily

with thumb and forefingers as shown

in figure, and cover them with black

paper.

b) Keep the slit parallel to the filament of the bulb which plays the role of first slit, right
in front of eye.

c) Adjust the width of the slit and

the parallelism of the edges the

pattern the pattern of light and

dark bands is visible.

d) As the position of the bands

(except the central one) depends on the wavelength, they will show some colours.
e) Use a filter for red and blue to make fringes clearer, Compare the fringes.
Observations: Since the position of all

the bands depends on wavelength so they

will show some colour. More the

wavelength, More they will diffract.

Result: Fringes are wider for red

compared to blue.

Precaution: Protect your eyes by using spectacles while performing the experiment.

Don’t use sunlight instead of the bulb as sun also produces infrared rays harmful to our
eyes.

*By repeating the above experiment with aluminium foil we can easily show double slit

diffraction.*
 Bibliography

www.google.com

www.wikipedia.com

www.youtube.com

www.byjus.com

www.geekforgeeks.com

NCERT Part II Class XII