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The Fresnel Diffraction Integral

The Fresnel diffraction integral describes the electric field diffraction pattern at a point using an integral that is impossible to solve analytically for all but the simplest cases. The Fresnel approximation simplifies the integral by ignoring higher order terms in the binomial expansion, resulting in an approximated integral called the Fresnel diffraction integral. This approximation is valid when the wavelength is much smaller than the relevant physical dimensions and the Fresnel number is approximately 1. The Fresnel diffraction integral describes the propagating electric field as a spherical wave originating from the aperture.

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Vincent Luigil Alcera
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44 views

The Fresnel Diffraction Integral

The Fresnel diffraction integral describes the electric field diffraction pattern at a point using an integral that is impossible to solve analytically for all but the simplest cases. The Fresnel approximation simplifies the integral by ignoring higher order terms in the binomial expansion, resulting in an approximated integral called the Fresnel diffraction integral. This approximation is valid when the wavelength is much smaller than the relevant physical dimensions and the Fresnel number is approximately 1. The Fresnel diffraction integral describes the propagating electric field as a spherical wave originating from the aperture.

Uploaded by

Vincent Luigil Alcera
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The Fresnel diffraction integral[edit]

Diffraction geometry, showing aperture (or diffracting object) plane and image plane, with coordinate system.

The electric field diffraction pattern at a point (x, y, z) is given by:


where
 is the electric field at the aperture,
 ,
 is the wavenumber 
 is the imaginary unit.
Analytical solution of this integral is impossible[citation needed] for all but the simplest
diffraction geometries. Therefore, it is usually calculated numerically.

The Fresnel approximation[edit]

Comparison between the diffraction pattern obtained with the Rayleigh-Sommerfeld


equation, the (paraxial) Fresnel approximation, and the (far-field) Fraunhofer
approximation.

The main problem for solving the integral is the expression of r. First, we can
simplify the algebra by introducing the substitution:
Substituting into the expression for r, we find:
Next, by the binomial expansion,
We can express  as
If we consider all the terms of binomial series, then there is no
approximation.[5] Let us substitute this expression in the
argument of the exponential within the integral; the key to the
Fresnel approximation is to assume that the third term is very
small and can be ignored and henceforth any higher orders. In
order to make this possible, it has to contribute to the variation
of the exponential for an almost null term. In other words, it has
to be much smaller than the period of the complex exponential;
i.e., :
expressing k in terms of the wavelength,
we get the following relationship:
Multiplying both sides by , we have
or, substituting the earlier expression for ρ2,
If this condition holds true for all values
of x, x' , y and y' , then we can ignore the
third term in the Taylor expression.
Furthermore, if the third term is negligible,
then all terms of higher order will be even
smaller, so we can ignore them as well.
For applications involving optical
wavelengths, the wavelength λ is typically
many orders of magnitude smaller than
the relevant physical dimensions. In
particular:
and
Thus, as a practical matter, the
required inequality will always
hold true as long as
We can then approximate the
expression with only the first
two terms:
This equation, then, is
the Fresnel
approximation, and the
inequality stated above is
a condition for the
approximation's validity.

Fresnel
diffraction[edit]
The condition for validity
is fairly weak, and it
allows all length
parameters to take
comparable values,
provided the aperture is
small compared to the
path length. For the r in
the denominator we go
one step further, and
approximate it with only
the first term, . This is
valid in particular if we are
interested in the
behaviour of the field only
in a small area close to
the origin, where the
values of x and y are
much smaller than z. In
general, Fresnel
diffraction is valid if
the Fresnel number is
approximately 1.
For Fresnel diffraction the
electric field at point (x, y,
z) is then given by :

Fresnel diffraction of
circular aperture,
plotted with Lommel
functions

This is the Fresnel


diffraction integral; it
means that, if the
Fresnel
approximation is
valid, the propagating
field is a spherical
wave, originating at
the aperture and
moving along z. The
integral modulates
the amplitude and
phase of the spherical
wave. Analytical
solution of this
expression is still only
possible in rare
cases. For a further
simplified case, valid
only for much larger
distances from the
diffraction source,
see Fraunhofer
diffraction. Unlike
Fraunhofer diffraction,
Fresnel diffraction
accounts for the
curvature of
the wavefront, in
order to correctly
calculate the
relative phase of
interfering waves.

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