Department of Physics

Indian Institute of Technology

Kharagpur-721302, West Bengal, India
Subject No. PH11003 (PHYSICS First Year B.Tech) Duration: 1 Hr

Diffraction

Introduction
 The intensity redistribution when light falls on opaque obstacles or passes through slits for example:
blurring around shadows

 Diffraction: The spread out of a wave when it passes through a narrow opening

 Refraction: the shorter wavelengths refract more than the longer ones

 Diffraction: The longer wavelengths that deviate more than the shorter ones

 Diffraction: The interference between more than two beams

 the distances between source , aperture and aperture play a crucial role in diffraction

 Fraunhofer diffraction:
when the source and the screen are
very far away from aperture

This can easily achieved by placing the

source on the focal plane of a convex lens
and placing the screen on the focal plane
of another lens.

The two lenses effectively moved the

source and the screen to infinity because
the first lens makes the light beam
parallel and the second lens effectively
makes the screen receive a parallel
beam of light

 Fresnel diffraction:
When the source and screen is closer to
the aperture
(i.e. it is at a finite distance, near-field)
PH11003 Diffraction 2

construction of diffraction integral

 Let us assume slit lie on y-axis between −d/2 and d/2
 When light is incident on this slit from behind, by the Huygens-Fresnel principle
each point on the illuminated slit will act as a source of secondary wavelets which
will subsequently interfere.
 Now consider the case where there are N such sources inside the slit (N coherent line
source). Let us further consider a region of infinitesimal width ∆yi located at yi in
the slit.
∆yi
 There will be N sources in ∆yi . The width of the slit is assumed to be much
d
smaller than λ.
 We take the region of width d as divided into M segments of width ∆yi (i.e. i runs
from 1 to M). For a spherical wavelet, we write its electric field as

ε0
E= sin(ω t − k r); where ε0 is the strength of source
r

 Therefore, for the ith segment, the net electric field,

by linear superposition will be

ε0 N ∆yi
Ei = [sin(ω t − k ri )]
ri d

In the limit N → ∞ & ε0 → 0 ; Assume

1
εL = lim ε0 N
d N →∞

The net electric field

for all the segments is thus obtained as

M
X εL
E= [sin(ω t − k ri )] ∆yi
i=1
ri
PH11003 Diffraction 3

In the continuum limit, when M → ∞ and ∆yi → dy we get

d/2
sin(ω t − k r)
Z
E = εL dy
−d/2 r

This is known as diffraction integral

 NOTE: r is a function of y
PH11003 Diffraction 4

Fraunhofer diffraction

Single slit diffraction

Consider the slit lies

between −b/2 and +b/2 on the y- axis.

Therefore, the diffraction integral becomes

b/2
sin(ω t − k r)
Z
E = εL dy
−b/2 r
From the figure we have relation between y, R and θ as

r2 = R2 + y 2 − 2 y R sin θ
(θ is measured from x-axis
that’s why we have sinθ)

In case of large R and y small (since b is small),

then we may write
1/2
y2

y
r = R 1 + 2 − 2 sin θ
R R
 y 1/2
≈ R 1 − 2 sin θ = R − y sin θ
R
Use this in the diffraction integral for single slit diffraction:
b/2
sin[ω t − k (R − y sin θ)]
Z
E = εL dy
−b/2 R
PH11003 Diffraction 5

y
In denominator we have written only R because sin θ is very small com-
R
pared to 1.
"Z #
b/2
εL
E= Im ei(ωt−kR+ky sin θ) dy
R
" −b/2  iky sin θ b/2 #
εL e
= Im ei(ωt−kR) ,
R i k sin θ −b/2
 i(ωt−kR) 
εL e
= Im {eik(b/2) sin θ − e−ik(b/2) sin θ }
R ik sin θ
 
εL b sin β i(ωt−kR) k b sin θ
= Im e where β =
R β 2
εL b sin β
= sin(ωt − kR)
R β
The intensity is given by < E E ∗ >; take the square of amplitude
 2  2
sin β k b sin θ 1 εL b
I = I0 ; Where β = , and I0 =
β 2 2 R
PH11003 Diffraction 6

position of maxima and minima

Differentiate the intensity expression w.r.t. β. This gives, as the condition for
extrema the following equation
 
dI sin β cos β sin β
= 2 I0 − 2 =0
dβ β β β

 Thus the extremum occur at

[Maxima: tan β = β]; [Minima: β = mπ (m = 0,±2, ±3...)]

 If β = 0 Central maxima
 Solve for tan β = β will give other maxima.

β = ±1.43π, ±2.46π, ±3.47π...

 The condition for minima is

kb sin θ
β = mπ ⇒ = mπ ⇒ b sin θ = mλ where m = ±1, ±2, ...
2
PH11003 Diffraction 7

Multi-slit Diffraction

Let many slits placed along y-axis

(length of slit is in y-axis)
Each slit having width ‘b’
Distance between consecutive slit ‘a’

1st Slit position −b/2 & + b/2

2nd Slit position (a − b/2) & (a + b/2)

3rd Slit position (2a − b/2) & (2a + b/2)

(N − 1)th Slit position:

[(N − 1)a − b/2] & [(N − 1)a + b/2]

The total electric field is given by

Z b/2
E=C F (y) dy
−b/2
Z a+b/2 Z 2a+b/2 Z (N −1)a+b/2
=C F (y) dy + C F (y) dy +...+ C F (y) dy
a−b/2 2a−b/2 (N −1)a−b/2

where F (y) = sin[ωt − k(R − y sin θ)] , considering θ same for all

Let us now consider the electric field at P due to the j th slit

C ja+b/2
Ej = [sin(ωt − kR) sin(ky sin θ) − cos(ωt − kR) cos(ky sin θ)]ja−b/2
k sin θ
sin β k a sin θ
Ej = b C sin(ωt − kR + 2α j); where α =
β 2
PH11003 Diffraction 8

To get the total electric field one now needs to sum over all the j.
Therefore, we have
N −1
sin β X
E=bC sin(ω t − kR + 2α j)
β j=0
 
N −1
sin β i(ωt−kR)
X
j
=bC Im e E 2iα 
β j=0

Sum the series

N −1
X
2iα j e2iN α − 1 sin N α
= ei(N −1)α


E = 2iα
j=0
e −1 sin α

The total electric field is given by

sin β sin N α h
i{ωt−kR+α(N −1)}
i
E=bC Im e
β sin α
sin β sin N α
=bC sin {ωt − kR + α(N − 1)}
β sin α
Hence the intensity distribution at point P due to N slits would be < EE ∗ >T
2  2
b2 C 2

sin β sin N α
I = I0 ; where I0 =
β sin α 2
PH11003 Diffraction 9

Analysis

 The intensity distribution is a product of two terms:

sin2 β
(1) which represents the diffraction pattern produced by a single slit
β2
sin2 N α
(2) represents the interference pattern produced by N equally spaced
sin2 α
point sources
sin2 N α
 The interference term 2 : as the value of N is large, the function
sin α
would become very sharply peaked at α = 0, π, 2π...
 Between the two peaks, the function vanishes when

pπ
α= where p = ±1, ±2... , but p 6= 0, ±N, ±2N
N
which are referred to as secondary minima

Positions of maxima and minima

 When N is very large, one can obtains

intensity Maxima at α ' mπ i.e when d sin θ = mλ where m = 0, 1, 2...

sin N α N cos N α
 Note: lim = lim = ±N
α→mπ sin α α→mπ cos α
PH11003 Diffraction 10

 The resultant Amplitude and corresponding Intensity distributions are

given by

bC sin β 2 sin2 β
E=N & I = N I0
β β2
These are known as Principal Maxima. At these maxima the fields
produced by each slits are in phase so they add up and the resultant field is
N times the field produced by each of the slit
sin2 β
 The intensity has large value unless itself is very small. Since | sin θ| ≤
β2
1 , m can not be greater than ‘ b/λ ’, thus, there will only be a finite number
of principal maxima
 Intensity is ZERO when either ‘ a sin θ = n λ ’ where n = 1, 2, 3... or
N α = pπ ; where p 6= N, 2N, ...
 The angle of diffraction corresponding to N α = pπ are

λ 2λ (N − 1)λ
b sin θ =, , ...
N N N
 Thus, between two principal maxima we have (N-1 ) minima
 Between two consecutive minima the intensity has to be maximum, these
maxima are known as secondary maxima
 A particular maxima may be absent if corresponding to the angle which
also determines the minimum of single slit diffraction pattern. This will
happen when b sin θ = mλ and a sin θ = λ, 2λ, ... are satisfy simultane-
ously (referred as MISSING ORDER. When a sin θ = λ, 2λ.. does not
hold exactly , the intensity of the corresponding principal maximum will be
very weak
 In addition to N α = pπ, where p 6= N, 2N..; we wil also have the diffraction
minima. However, when N is very large, the number of such minima will
be very small
PH11003 Diffraction 11

∆θ2m) is known as angular half width of the mth order principal

maximum.
 For a large value of N, ∆θ1m ' ∆θ2m = ∆θm
λ
b sin(θm ± ∆θm) = mλ ±
N
But,
sin(θm ± ∆θm) = sin θm cos ∆θm ± cos θm sin ∆θm
' sin θm ± ∆θm cos θm
Hence,
λ
∆θm '
N b cos θm

which shows the principal maxima becomes sharper as N increases.

PH11003 Diffraction 12

Double Slit Diffraction

take N = 2 in the above equation for double slit

The intensity distribution would be

 2
sin β k b sin θ
I = 4 I0 cos2 α; where β =
β 2

Applications

 X-ray Diffraction
 Holograms (whole + message)
 Diffraction grating: can observe the structure of atoms and molecules and
also the chemical composition of stars
PH11003 Diffraction 13

Questions

§1. A parallel beam of light is incident normally on a narrow slit of width 0.2 mm.
The Fraunhofer diffraction pattern is observed on a screen which is placed
at the focal plane of a convex lens whose focal length is 20 cm. Calculate
the distance between the first two minima and the first two maxima on the
screen. Assume λ = 5 × 10−5 cm and that the lens is placed very close to
the slit.
§2. A plane wave (λ = 5000 Å ) falls normally on a long narrow slit of width
0.5 mm. Calculate the angle of diffraction corresponding to the first two
minima and repeat the calculation for a slit width 0.1 mm. Interpret the
change in diffraction pattern.
[Ans: 0.0570; 0.1150; 0.170; and 0.290; 0.570; 0.860]
§3. In a double slit diffraction experiment, slit width is of b=0.88 µ m, and
d = 7.0 × 10−2 cm, and λ = 6328 Å . Estimate the angular separation
between two interference maxima and calculate the fringe width on the
screen which placed at a distance of 50 cm from the aperture.
§4. The Fraunhofer diffraction pattern of a circular aperture (of radius 0.5
mm) is observed on the focal plane of a convex lens of focal length 20
cm. Calculate the radii of the first and the second dark rings. Assume
λ = 5.5 × 10−5 cm.
[Ans: 0.13 mm; 0.25 mm]