Lecture 4.

Interference &
applications
 Interference: what happens when you add waves?
 e.g., light + light = interference ??
Interference!
 Application of the phenomenon: Interferometers
 Precise distance and rotation measurements

 Noninvasive microscopy
 Wave Properties

 Wavelength: The distance  between identical points on the wave.

 Amplitude: The maximum displacement A of a point on the wave.

For a fixed time t : Wavelength


Amplitude A
x
A
 Wave Properties: continue
 Period: The time T for a point on the wave to undergo
one complete oscillation.
For a fixed position x : Period T

Amplitude A
t
A

 Speed: The wave moves one wavelength  in one period T

so its speed is v = / T.

v
T

 Frequency: f = 1/T = cycles/second.

Angular frequency:  = 2f = radians/second

v  f
Example
displacement vs. time at x = 0.4 m
0.8

Displacement in mm
0.4

-0.4

-0.8
0 .02 .04 .06 .08 .1 .12 .14 .16
time in seconds
 What is the amplitude, A, of this wave?

 What is the period, T, of this wave?

And frequency f?
 If this wave moves with a velocity v = 50 m/s,
what is the wavelength, , of the wave?
Example-solution
displacement vs. time at x = 0.4 m
0.8

Displacement in mm
0.4
T
A
0

-0.4

-0.8
0 .02 .04 .06 .08 .1 .12 .14 .16
time in seconds
 What is the amplitude, A, of this wave? A = 0.6 mm

 What is the period, T, of this wave? T = 0.1 s, f=1/T=10 Hz

 If this wave moves with a velocity v = 50 m/s, v = f = /T

what is the wavelength, , of the wave?
= vT = 5.0 m
 Exercise 1: Wave Motion
The speed of sound in air is a bit over 300 m/s, and the speed
of light in air is about 300,000,000 m/s.
Suppose we make a sound wave and a light wave that both
have a wavelength of 3 meters.
1. What is the ratio of the frequency of the light wave to that of
the sound wave?

(a) About 1,000,000

(b) About 0.000001
(c) About 1000

2. What happens to the wavelength if the light passes under water or

other medium (not in vacuum)?
(a) Increases
(b) Decreases
(c) Stays the
same
Solution for exercise 1: Wave Motion
The speed of sound in air is a bit over 300 m/s, and the speed
of light in air is about 300,000,000 m/s.
Suppose we make a sound wave and a light wave that both
have a wavelength of 3 meters.
1. What is the ratio of the frequency of the light wave to that of
the sound wave?
v vlight
(a) About 1,000,000 f   1,000,000
(b) About 0.000001
 v sound
(c) About 1000 f light
  1,000,000
f sound
2. What happens to the wavelength if the light passes under water?
(a) Increases v The frequency cannot change.
 Therefore, must decrease.
(b) Decreases f
Question: do you hear about the frequency and
(c) Stays the same wavelength in daily experience?
 The Wave Equation...
 We will assume waves of the form y(x,t) = f(x – vt) and cos(kx - wt)

What is the origin of these functional forms?

 2h 1  2h


 These are solutions to a wave equation:

2
 2
 x v  t2
 Example: Sound waves = pressure waves:

d2p 1 d2p
2
 2 2 with v  3 30 m /s (air at sea level)
dx v dt

For electromagnetic waves, the origin is Maxwell’s equations, which lead to wave
equations for the electric and magnetic fields:

 2Ey  2Ey y
2
  0 0
 x  t2
1 x
c  3  108 m /s
 0 0 z

= f =  E y  E 0 sin ( k x   t ) B z  B 0 s in ( k x   t )
k
Harmonic Plane Waves
y 

Consider a wave that is harmonic
in x and has a wavelength of .
A


x
If the amplitude is maximum at
2 
x = 0, this has the functional form: y x   A cos  x
  

 And, if this is moving to the right with

v
speed v it will be described by: y
 2 
y  x , t   A cos   x  vt    A cos  kx   t  x
  
 the “wave number”, K, is defined as: 2
k

 Can you provide an example about a harmonic wave?
 Summary
y 
 The formula y x , t   A c o s k x   t 
describes a harmonic plane wave A
of amplitude A moving in the
x
+x direction.

 For a wave on a string, each point on the wave oscillates in

the y direction with simple harmonic motion of angular
frequency .
2 
 The wavelength is    The speed is v
k k

Sound waves or electro-magnetic (EM) waves that are created from a
point source are spherical waves, i.e., they move radially from the source
in all directions.

These waves can be represented by circular arcs:

These arcs are surfaces of constant phase (e.g., crests)

Note: In general for spherical waves the intensity
will fall off as 1/r2.


 Amplitude and Intensity
 In this part of the course we will deal primarily with sound waves and electromagnetic waves (radio
frequency, microwaves, light).

How bright is the light? How loud is the sound?

Amplitude, A Intensity, I
SOUND WAVE: peak differential pressure, po power transmitted/area (loudness)
EM WAVE: peak electric field, Eo power transmitted/area (brightness)

Power transmitted is proportional to the square of the amplitude.

E2
I  P   tim e -a v e r a g e d p o w e r = I  a r e a  ( a m p litu d e ) 2
oc
 We will rarely (if ever) calculate the magnitudes of p or E, and we
will generally calculate ratios of intensities, so we can simplify our
analysis and write: 2
IA or A=I
Intensity Amplitude
Transmitted power per
unit area (W/m2)
 Superposition of Waves
 Question: What happens when two waves “collide?”

 Answer: They ADD together!

 We say the waves are in a “superposition”

Movie (super_pulse)

Movie (super_pulse2)
 Exercise 2
Pulse 2 has four times the peak intensity of pulse 1, i.e., I2 = 4 I1.

1. What is the maximum intensity, Imax?

(a) 4 I1
(b) 5 I1
(c) 9 I1

2. What is the minimum intensity, Imin?

(a) 0
(b) I1
(c) 3 I1
 exercise 2
Pulse 2 has four times the peak intensity of pulse 1, i.e., I2 = 4 I1.

1. What is the maximum intensity, Imax?

(a) 4 I1
A2  I2  4 I 1  2 I 1  2 A1
(b) 5 I1
I to t   A to t    A 1  A 2    A 1  2 A 1   9 A 12  9 I 1
2 2 2
(c) 9 I1

2. What is the minimum intensity, Imin?

(a) 0
I to t   A to t    A 1  A 2    A 1  2 A 1   A 12  I 1
2 2 2
(b) I1
(c) 3 I1
 Adding Waves with Different Phases

Example: Suppose we have two waves with the same amplitude A1
and angular frequency . Then their wave numbers k are also the
same. Suppose that they differ only in phase  :
y1 = A1 cos(k x -  t) and y2 = A1 cos(k x -  t + )

Spatial dependence of
2 waves at t = 0:

Resultant wave: y = y1 +y2

       
Trig identity: A 1 cos   cos    2 A 1 cos  cos 
 2   2 

y1  y 2 k x   t   / 2   / 2 
y  2 A 1 c o s(  / 2 ) c o s( k x   t   / 2 )
Amplitude Oscillation
 Interference of Waves

What happens when two waves are present at the same
point in space and time? (single )
 Always add amplitudes (pressures or electric fields).

What we observe however is Intensity (absorbed power).
I = A2 F or 2 equal w aves, A  2A cos( / 2)
1

Example: Terminology
Stereo speakers: Listener:  “Constructive interference”:
waves are “in phase”
( = 0, 2, 4, ..)
 “Destructive interference”:
waves are “out of
phase” ( = , 3, 5, …)
Of course,  can take on an infinite number of
values. We won’t use terms like “mostly
constructive” or “slightly destructive”.
 Summary
 The resultant intensity of two equal-intensity waves at the same point in space is:

I = 4 I1cos2(/2)

For nonequal intensities, the maximum and minimum intensities are
Imax = |A1 + A2|2 Imin = |A1 - A2|2

 The phase difference between the two waves may be due to a difference in their
source phases or a difference in the path lengths to the observer. In the latter
case:


with r2 – r1
 Huygen’s principle
All points on wavefront are point
Wavefront
sources for ‘spherical secondary at t=0
Wavefront
at time t
wavelets’ with speed, frequency
equal to initial wave.

What happens when a plane wave meets a small aperture?

Answer: The result depends on the ratio of the wavelength
to the size of the aperture a :

The transmitted wave is still

concentrated in the forward
<< a
direction, and at near distances
wavefronts have the shape of the
aperture.

Similar to a wave from a point source.

 >> a
“Diffraction”: Interference of
waves from objects or apertures
 Double-slit interference
 Light (wavelength  is incident on a two-slit (two narrow,
rectangular openings) apparatus:
I1
 If either one of the slits is closed,
a diffuse image of the other slit will S1
appear on the screen. (The image will
be “diffuse” due to diffraction. We
will discuss this effect in more detail
S2
later.)
Diffraction
Monochromatic light profile
(wavelength )
screen
 If both slits are now open, we see
interference “fringes” (light and dark S1
bands), corresponding to constructive
and destructive interference of the
electric-field amplitudes from both
slits. S2

I
 Two-Slit Interference 

Basic result: /d

Constructive r /d y
 = dsin = m
Interference

d 0
m = 0, ±1, ±2,... I
Destructive
 = dsin = (m + 1/2) -/d
Interference

L
“lines” of m=2
constructive Usually we care about the linear
m=1
interference: (as opposed to angular)
 displacement y of the pattern:
 = sin-1(md m=0
y = L tan
m=-1

m=-2
 Two-Slit Interference, small angles:
The slit-spacing d is often large compared to , so that  is small.
Then we can use the small angle approximations to simplify our results:
For small angles: ( << 1 radian)

sin    tan  (only in radians!) y = L tan   L  (in radians)

Y  L
Constructive   m(d)
Interference:
y  m(d)L L/d

m = 0, ±1, ±2,...
L/d


d 0
I
-L/d
Destructive   (m + 1/2)(d)
Interference: L
y  (m + 1/2)(d)L
 Exercise: 2-slit interference
A laser of wavelength 633 nm is S1
incident on two slits separated y
by 0.125 mm.
S2

I
1. What is the spacing y between fringe maxima on a screen 2m away?
a. 1 m b. 1 mm c. 1 cm

2. If we increase the spacing between the slits, what will happen to y?
a. decrease b. stay the same c. increase

3. If we instead use a green laser (smaller ), y will?

a. decrease b. stay the same c. increase
 exercise: 2-slit interference
A laser of wavelength 633 nm is S1
incident on two slits separated y
by 0.125 mm.
S2

1. What is the spacing y between fringe maxima on a screen 2m away?

a. 1 m b. 1 mm c. 1 cm

2. If we increase the spacing between the slits, what will happen to y?
a. decrease b. stay the same c. increase
Since y ~ 1/d, the spacing decreases. Note: This is a general phenomenon
– the “far-field” interference pattern varies inversely with slit dimensions.
3. If we instead use a green laser (smaller ), y will?
a. decrease b. stay the same c. increase
Since y ~ , the spacing decreases.
 Multi-Slit Interference P

What changes if we increase the

number of slits (e.g., N = 3, 4, 1000?) Incident wave
(wavelength ) y
 First look at the “principle maxima”:
 If slit 1 and 2 are in phase with
S3

each other, than slit 3 will also be

in phase. d

Conclusion: Position of “principle S2
interference maxima” are the same!


(i.e., d sin = m )
S1
L

Atot = 3 A1 For N slits

Itot = N2 I1
 Itot = 9 I1
 General properties of N-Slit Interference
9I
9 1 16I1
16 25I
25 1
N=3 N=4 N=5
20
10
g(Ix) 5 h(I
h5( I
x)
x)
10

00 0 0
   0 0
10 0  10 10 0  10  10 0  10 
10d 
x d 10  10d 
x d 10  d 10 
10d 
x

• The positions of the principal maxima of the intensity patterns always

occur at  = 0, 2, 4 is the phase between adjacent
slits]i.e., dsin = m, m = 0, 1, 2,….

• The principal maxima become taller and narrower as N increases.

• The intensity of a principal maximum is equal to N2 times the maximum

intensity from one slit. The width of a principal maximum goes as 1/N.

• The # of zeroes between adjacent principal maxima is equal to N-1.

The # of secondary maxima between adjacent principal maxima is N-2.
For N slits the first zero is at 2/N.
 exercise: N-slit interference
A laser of wavelength 760 nm is
incident on N slits separated
by 0.125 mm.

1. What is the total number of maxima can be observed on a screen 2m

away?
a. b. c.

2. What is the width of the principle maxima on a screen 2m away if

N=25?
a. b. c.

3. Number of slits per unity of the length is equal to 1/d. What is the
number of slits per 1 cm?
a. b. c.
 Exercise
The Young interference of light is considered: wavelength of light is
of 600 nm, the distance between two slits is of 1 mm and the
distance from the slits to screen is of 1m. Determine:
 The width of the light band of interference pattern, i?
 The position of the 3th light band (or maximum) and the 4th dark
band (or minimum)?
 Could you propose the experiment for determination of the
wavelength of the light in general? Please, explain in details.

Self-Reading: Interference of thin film !