10

WAVE OPTICS

10.1 DIFFRACTION

The phenomena observed when waves are obstructed by obstacles or pass through apertures are called
diffraction effects.

All (two or three dimensional) waves exhibit diffraction effects but the magnitude of these effects
depends on the wavelength of the waves. Diffraction effects are most obvious when the object or
aperture causing the diffraction is similar in size to the wavelength of the wave

Figure 10.1a

Figure 10.1b

Figure 10.1a and 10.1b above shows how wave (e.g light) bend while through an edge, small
obstruction, large aperture, or a small aperture

10.2 INTERFERENCE

Interference in waves refers to a situation in which two or more coherent waves overlap. Coherent
waves are waves that have the same frequency and in phase.

Interference effects are most easily seen when we combine sinusoidal waves with single frequency, f
and wavelength, λ. In optics, sinusoidal waves are characteristic of monochromatic light (light of
single wavelength, λ).

The waves propagate outward from the point sources, forming a series of concentric circles about the
source. In the diagram, the thick lines represent wave crests and the thin lines represent wave troughs.

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The nature of the interference pattern produced by two bobbing sources in a ripple tank (water tank)
was discussed. The diagram below depicts the pattern resulting from the propagation of water waves
across the lake

The crests and troughs from the two sources interfere with each other at a regular rate to produce
nodes (pictured in blue on the diagram) and anti-nodes (pictured in red) along the water surface.

Two monochromatic waves (of the same wavelength) are said to be in phase if the crests (and
troughs) of one wave coincide with the crests (and troughs) of the other

At a point of constructive interference the net amplitude of the two waves is a maximum, whereas at a
point of destructive interference, the net amplitude is a minimum.

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YOUNG’S DOUBLE SLIT EXPERIMENT

Incident P
r1 r1 Central or
wave
bright fringe
y S1
S1 r2 3 2 1 0 1 2 3
θ
d
θ r2
S2 d
Path difference, δ
S2 δ = r2 -r1 = dsinθ

(a) (b) (c)

Figure 10.2 The set-up for Young’s Double Slit Experiment

Figure 10.2 shows the set-up for Young’s Double Slit Experiment. Plane waves are incident to slits S1
and S2 that acts as sources of wave. A screen situated at a distance D from the slits is used to capture
the interference image.

At screen, an image containing a series of bright and dark fringes with varying intensity is obtained,
such as shown in Figure 10.2c.

Let assume light rays from S1 and S2 interferes constructively at P. From Figure 10.2a, the path
difference between the rays is

δ = r2 − r1 = d sin θ (See Figure 1.18b) (i)

But
δ = d sin θ = mλ m = 0, ± 1, ± 2, ..... (ii)

Combining (i) and (ii) we get

δ = d sin θ = mλ

y
From Figure 10.2a, tan θ =
D

where y is the position of bright bands from the center of the image.

Since θ is small, sin θ ≈ tan θ

mλ y
=
d D
mλD
y=
d

When δ is an odd multiple of λ/2, the condition for dark fringes is

1
δ = d sin θ = (m + )λ
2
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 By using the same method, the position of the dark fringes are calculated.

So that the formulas specifying the y - coordinates of the bright and dark fringes respectively are

Bright fringes or constructive interference

mλ D
y= m = 0, 1, 2, ....
d

Dark fringes or destructive interference

1
( m + )λ D
y= 2 m = 0, 1, 2,....
d

where m = order
λ = wavelength
D = distance from the slits to the screen
d = distance between the slits

The central bright fringe where m=0 is called zeroth-order maximum. The first maximum on either
side, where m = ±1, is called the first-order maximum and so forth.
Exercise 10.1

A screen is placed 100 cm from a double slit light source. The slits separation is 0.03 mm. The second
order bright fringe (m = 2) is measured 3.8 mm from the center line.
(a) Determine the wavelength of the light source.
(b) Calculate the distance between adjacent bright fringes

DIFFRACTION BY A SINGLE SLIT

Diffraction refers to various phenomena associated with wave propagation, such as the bending,
spreading and interference of waves passing by an object or aperture that disrupts the wave. It occurs
with any type of wave, including sound waves, water waves, and electromagnetic waves such as
visible light, x-rays and radio waves.

Diffraction also occurs with matter – according to the principles of quantum mechanics, any physical
object has wave-like properties. While diffraction always occurs, its effects are generally most
noticeable for waves where the wavelength is on the order of the feature size of the diffracting objects
or apertures. The complex patterns in the intensity of a diffracted wave are a result of interference
between different parts of a wave that traveled to the observer by different paths.

The effects of diffraction can be readily seen in everyday life. The most colorful examples of
diffraction are those involving light; for example, the closely spaced tracks on a CD or DVD act as a
diffraction grating to form the familiar rainbow pattern we see when looking at a disk. 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 credit card is an example.

Diffraction in the atmosphere by small particles in it 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. All these effects are a consequence of the fact that light is a
wave.

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 d

Figure 10.3

In Figure 10.3 consider a slit with width a. By Huygens’s principle, each point will act as a source of
the secondary wavelets which moving in the same speed as the original wave. The overlapping of
each wavelength will form a diffraction pattern on analyzing slit. On the analyzing slit or screen there
is central bright line. On both side fringes are form but the intensity lesser than center bright as in
figure bellow. The destructive interference produces satisfied the equation

d sinθ = m λ ; m = 1,2,3…

where d = width of slit.

We also can get the relation between the position of dark fringe y and analyzing slit z

y = L tan θ

DIFFRACTION GRATING

In optics, a diffraction grating is an optical component with a surface covered by a regular pattern of
parallel lines, typically with a distance between the lines comparable to the wavelength of light. Light
rays that pass through such a surface are bent as a result of diffraction, related to the wave properties
of light. This diffraction angle depends on the wavelength of the light.

In its simplest form, a diffraction grating could be a photographic slide with a fine pattern of black
lines. However, for practical applications, most gratings have grooves or rulings on their surface
rather than dark lines. Such gratings can be either transparent or reflective. Because of their ability of
splitting light into different wavelengths (dispersion), gratings are commonly used in monochromators
and spectrometers.

For a given grating, light with a larger wavelength generally has a larger diffraction angle. More
precisely, a single wavelength can simultaneously have multiple discrete diffraction angles, called
diffraction orders.

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 Figure 10.4

Consider Figure 10.4. If we have two mixure colours fort example blue and red, the image form on
screen will resolve the images. The center will produce the mixture of two colours. The general, the
angle θ is associated with the-mth order maximum is given by

d sin θ = m λ where m = 0,1,2...

Tutorial 10

1. A monochromatic light source with wavelength 540nm is used in Young's Double Slit
experiment. If the separation of the slits is 0.10 mm and the distance between the slits and the
screen is 60 cm, find the width of the bright band and the distance between the eighth bright
band from the centre.
(Ans : 25.92 mm)

2. Young’s double-slit experiment is performed with light of wavelength 500nm, the slits are
1.2mm apart and the screen is 5.4m from the slits.
(a) How far apart are the bright fringes? (Ans : 2.25 x 10-3m )
(b) If the slit separation is doubled, calculate the distance of the viewing
screen to maintain the same fringe spacing ? (Ans : 10.8 m)

3. The Young's double slit experiment is carried out using a light source with a wavelength of
546.0 nm. The distance between the slits is 0.12 mm and the screen is 55.0 cm from the
double slits. Find the angle where
(i) the first dark fringes occurs ( Ans : 0.130)
(ii) the tenth bright fringes occurs ( Ans : 2.60 )

4. Figure 1 shows an interference pattern that is produced by a Young's double slit experiment.
The distance between the slits and the screen is 100 cm. The distance of separation between
the slits is 0.2 mm. Determine the wavelength of the light used in the experiment.
(Ans :5.6 x 10-7m)

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 Figure 1

5. Figure 2 shows two coherent sources of sound S1 and S2 which produce sound waves in air
frequency 660Hz. Constructive interference of the third order (m=3) occurs at point P. (speed
of sound in air is 330 ms-1). Determine
i) the wavelength of the sound waves, (Ans : 0.5m)
ii) the distance PS2. (Ans : 4.58m)
S1

4m
Figure 2
S2 P

6. The Young’s double slit experiment is carried out using the apparatus shown in Figure 3. The
distance between the two slits, M and N is 0.5mm. The distance of the screen from the double
slits is 1.5m. The wavelength, λ of light from the light source, S is 6.0 x 10-7m. Q is point on
5
the screen such that QN – QM = λ, calculate the distance PQ.
2
(Ans : 4.5 mm )

Figure 3

7. Monochromatic light passes through two slits separated by a distance of 0.032 mm. If the angle to
the third bright fringe above the central fringe is 3.51°, what is the wavelength of the light?
(Answer : 661 nm )

8. A Young's double slit experiment is performed with sodium yellow light. The separation between
the slits is 1.54 mm and the interference pattern is formed on a screen 2.0 m away. It is observed
that the tenth interference minimum (dark fringe) to be 7.26 mm from the central maximum. What
is the wavelength of sodium yellow light?
(Answer : 588 nm )

8. The apparatus used in conducting Young’s double slit experiment is set up. The following
readings are obtained :
Distance between the two slits = 1.3 mm
Distance between the slits and the screen = 1.2 mm

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 Determine the wavelength of the light used if the distance between the central bright fringe and
(a) the bright fringe of the third order is 1.5 mm
(b) the dark fringe of the fifth order is 2.5 mm
(Answer : 5.42x10-7 m, 4.92x10-7 m)

10. In a Young’s double slit experiment setup, light of wavelength 600 nm produces fringes of
separation 0.4 mm on the screen. Using the setup but of different source, fringes of separation
0.33 mm are obtained. Calculate the wavelenght of the second light source.
(Answer : 495 nm)

11. The angular separation between two first order minima of a Fraunhofer diffraction pattern
produced by single slit is 20o. The incidence light has wavelength 600nm. Determine the width of
slit
(Ans: 3.5 x 10-6m)

12. A single slit of width 0.10 mm is illuminated by parallel light of wavelength 600 nm and
diffraction band are observed on a screen 40 cm from slit How far is the third band from central
bright band?
(Ans: 0.72 cm)

13. A single slit of width 0.14mm is illuminated by monochromatic light and diffraction band are
observed on a screen 2.0 m away from slit. If the second dark band is 16 mm from the central
bright band, what is the wavelength of the light?
(Ans: 560 nm)

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