Chapter 37 - Interference

and Diffraction
AA PowerPoint
PowerPoint Presentation
Presentation by
by
Paul
Paul E.
E. Tippens,
Tippens, Professor
Professor of
of Physics
Physics
Southern
Southern Polytechnic
Polytechnic State
State University
University

2007

Objectives: After completing this

module, you should be able to:

Define and apply concepts of constructive

interference, destructive interference,
diffraction, and resolving power.
Describe Youngs experiment and be able to
predict the location of dark and bright fringes
formed from the interference of light waves.
Discuss the use of a diffraction grating, derive
the grating equation, and apply it to the
solution of optical problems.

Diffraction of Light
Diffraction
Diffraction isis the
the ability
ability of
of light
light waves
waves to
to bend
bend
around
around obstacles
obstacles placed
placed in
in their
their path.
path.
Ocean

Beach

Light rays

Fuzzy Shadow
Water waves easily bend around obstacles, but
light waves also bend, as evidenced by the lack
of a sharp shadow on the wall.

Water Waves
A wave generator sends periodic water waves
into a barrier with a small gap, as shown below.

AA new
new set
set of
of waves
waves isis observed
observed
emerging
emerging from
from the
the gap
gap to
to the
the wall.
wall.

Interference of Water Waves

An interference pattern is set up by water
waves leaving two slits at the same instant.

Youngs Experiment
In Youngs experiment, light from a monochromatic
source falls on two slits, setting up an interference
pattern analogous to that with water waves.
Light
source

S1

S2

The Superposition Principle

The resultant displacement of two simultaneous waves (blue and green) is the
algebraic sum of the two displacements.
The composite wave is shown in yellow.

Constructive Interference

Destructive Interference

The superposition of two coherent light waves

results in light and dark fringes on a screen.

Youngs Interference Pattern

s1

Constructive

Bright fringe

s2
s1
s2
s1

Destructive

Dark fringe

s2
Constructive

Bright fringe

Conditions for Bright Fringes

Bright fringes occur when the difference in path p
is an integral multiple of one wave length .

p1
p2

p3
p4
Path difference
p = 0, , 2, 3,

Bright fringes:

p = n, n = 0, 1, 2, . . .

Conditions for Dark Fringes

Dark fringes occur when the difference in path p
is an odd multiple of one-half of a wave length .

p1
p2

p3

n = odd
n=

1,3,5

p3
Dark fringes:

p n

p n

n 1, 3, 5, 7, . . .

Analytical Methods for Fringes

x

s1
d
s2

Path difference
determines light
and dark pattern.

d sin

p1
p2

p = p1 p2
p = d sin

Bright fringes: d sin = n, n = 0, 1, 2, 3, . . .

Dark fringes:

d sin = n, n = 1, 3, 5, . . .

Analytical Methods (Cont.)

s1
d
s2

From geometry,
we recall that:

d sin

p1
p2

Bright fringes:

dy
n , n 0, 1, 2, ...
x

y
sin tan
x
So that . . .

dy
d sin
x
Dark fringes:

dy

n , n 1, 3, 5...
x
2

Example 1: Two slits are 0.08 mm apart, and

the screen is 2 m away. How far is the third
dark fringe located from the central maximum if
light of wavelength 600 nm is used?

x = 2 m; d = 0.08 mm
= 600 nm; y = ?

d sin = 5(/2)
The third dark fringe
occurs when n = 5
Dark fringes:

dy

n , n 1, 3, 5...
x
2

s1
s2

d sin

n = 1, 3, 5

dy 5

x
2

Example 1 (Cont.): Two slits are 0.08 mm

apart, and the screen is 2 m away. How far is
the third dark fringe located from the central
maximum if = 600 nm?
x
x = 2 m; d = 0.08 mm s1
d sin
= 600 nm; y = ?

dy 5

x
2

s2

5 x 5(600 x 10-9 m)(2 m)

y

2d
2(0.08 x 10-3 m)

n = 1, 3, 5

yy == 3.75
3.75 cm
cm

The Diffraction Grating

AA diffraction
diffraction grating
grating consists
consists of
of thousands
thousands of
of
parallel
parallel slits
slits etched
etched on
on glass
glass so
so that
that brighter
brighter and
and
sharper
sharper patterns
patterns can
can be
be observed
observed than
than with
with
Young
s experiment.
Youngs
experiment. Equation
Equation isis similar.
similar.
d sin

d sin n
n = 1, 2, 3,

The Grating Equation

The grating equation:

d sin n n 1, 2, 3, ...
d = slit width (spacing)
= wavelength of light
= angular deviation
n = order of fringe

1st
order

2nd
order

Example 2: Light (600 nm) strikes a grating ruled

with 300 lines/mm. What is the angular deviation
of the 2nd order bright fringe?
To find slit separation,
we take reciprocal of
300 lines/mm:
Lines/mm mm/line

n=2
300 lines/mm

1
d
0.00333 mm/line
300 lines/mm

mm 103 m
d 0.00333

line 1 mm

d 3 x 10 m
-6

Example (Cont.) 2: A grating is ruled with 300

lines/mm. What is the angular deviation of the
2nd order bright fringe?
= 600 nm

d 3 x 10-6 m
d sin n

n2

2 2(600 x 10-9 m)

sin
;
-6
d
3.33 x 10
Angular deviation of
second order fringe is:

n=2
300 lines/mm

sin 0.360
00
22 == 21.1
21.1

A compact disk acts as a diffraction grating. The colors

and intensity of the reflected light depend on the
orientation of the disc relative to the eye.

Interference From Single Slit

When monochromatic light strikes a single slit,
diffraction from the edges produces an interference
pattern as illustrated.
Relative intensity

Pattern Exaggerated
The interference results from the fact that not all
paths of light travel the same distance some
arrive out of phase.

Single Slit Interference Pattern

a
sin
2

For rays 1 and 3

and for 2 and 4:

a/2

a
a/2

Each point inside slit

acts as a source.

1
2
3
4
5

a
p sin
2

First dark fringe:

sin
2
2

For every ray there is another ray that differs by

this path and therefore interferes destructively.

Single Slit Interference Pattern

a
sin
2

First dark fringe:

a/2

a
a/2

sin
2
2

1
2
3
4
5

sin

Other dark fringes occur

for integral multiples of
this fraction /a.

Example 3: Monochromatic light shines on a

single slit of width 0.45 mm. On a screen 1.5 m
away, the first dark fringe is displaced 2 mm
from the central maximum. What is the
wavelength of the light?
=?

sin

x = 1.5 m

y
sin tan ;
x

a = 0.35 mm

y
;
x a

(0.002 m)(0.00045 m)

1.50 m

ya

x
= 600 nm

Diffraction for a Circular Opening

D
Circular diffraction
The
The diffraction
diffraction of
of light
light passing
passing through
through aa circular
circular
opening
opening produces
produces circular
circular interference
interference fringes
fringes
that
that often
often blur
blur images.
images. For
For optical
optical instruments,
instruments,
the
the problem
problem increases
increases with
with larger
larger diameters
diameters DD..

Resolution of Images
Consider
Consider light
light through
through aa pinhole.
pinhole. As
As two
two objects
objects
get
get closer
closer the
the interference
interference fringes
fringes overlap,
overlap,
making
making itit difficult
difficult to
to distinguish
distinguish separate
separate images.
images.
Clear image of
each object

d1

Separate images
barely seen
d2

Resolution Limit
Images
Images are
are just
just resolved
resolved Resolution
when
limit
when central
central maximum
maximum
of
of one
one pattern
pattern coincides
coincides
d2
with
with first
first dark
dark fringe
fringe of
of
the
the other
other pattern.
pattern.

Separate images

Resolution Limit

Resolving Power of Instruments

The
The resolving
resolving power
power of
of
an
an instrument
instrument isis aa
D
measure
of
its
ability
to
measure of its ability to
produce
produce well-defined
well-defined
separate
separate images.
images.

Limiting angle

For
,
, and
For small
small angles,
angles, sin
sin

and the
the limiting
limiting
angle
angle of
of resolution
resolution for
for aa circular
circular opening
opening is:
is:
Limiting
Limiting angle
angle of
of
resolution:
resolution:

0 1.22

Resolution and Distance

p
so

Limiting angle o

s0
Limiting Angle
0 1.22
of Resolution:
D p

Example 4: The tail lights ( = 632 nm) of an

auto are 1.2 m apart and the pupil of the eye
is around 2 mm in diameter. How far away can
the tail lights be resolved as separate images?

p
so

Eye

Tail lights

s0
0 1.22
D p
(1.2 m)(0.002 m)
p
1.22(632 x 10-9 m)

s0 D
p
1.22
p = 3.11 km

Summary
Youngs
Experiment:
Monochromatic
light falls on two
slits, producing
interference fringes
on a screen.

s1
d
s2

Bright fringes:

dy
n , n 0, 1, 2, ...
x

d sin

p1
p2

dy
d sin
x

Dark fringes:

dy

n , n 1, 3, 5...
x
2

Summary (Cont.)
The grating equation:

d sin n n 1, 2, 3, ...

d = slit width (spacing)

= angular deviation

= wavelength of light

n = order of fringe

Summary (Cont.)
Interference
Interference from
from aa single
single slit
slit of
of width
width aa::
Relative Intensity

Pattern Exaggerated

Dark Fringes: sin n

n 1, 2, 3, . . .

Summary (cont.)
The
The resolving
resolving power
power of
of instruments.
instruments.

p
so

Limiting angle o

s0
Limiting Angle
0 1.22
of Resolution:
D p

CONCLUSION: Chapter 37
Interference and Diffraction