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Diffraction

Physics Diffraction related stuff

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
13 views

Diffraction

Physics Diffraction related stuff

Uploaded by

blackberryz3k6
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Lecture: Diffraction

Ref book: Physics for Engineers - Giasuddin Ahmad (Part-1)


Optics-Eugene Hecht [4th edition]
Optics-N Subrahmanym and Brijlal [22nd edition]

Prepared by Nipa Roy


Institute of Natural Sciences
United International University

Web ref provided on slides


Diffraction
• Diffraction refers to what
happens to a wave when it hits
an obstacle.
• It is defined as the bending of
waves around the corners of an
obstacle or aperture into the
region of geometrical shadow of
the obstacle.
• When a beam of light is partly
blocked by an obstacle, some of
the light is scattered around the
object, and light and dark bands
are often seen at the edge of
the shadow – this effect is
known as diffraction.
Ref: wikipedia
Diffraction

Diffraction pattern of red laser beam Circular waves generated by diffraction


made on a plate after passing through a from the narrow entrance of a flooded
Ref: wikipedia
small circular aperture in another plate coastal quarry
Diffraction: Examples

• Diffraction occurs with all waves, including sound


waves, water waves, and electromagnetic waves such
as visible light, X-rays and radio waves.
• The closely spaced tracks on a CD or DVD act as
a diffraction grating.
• The hologram on a credit card.
• Ocean waves diffract around jetties and other
obstacles.
• Sound waves can diffract around objects, which is why
one can still hear someone calling even when hiding
behind a tree.
Ref: wikipedia
Diffraction: Types

• Fresnel Diffraction: Near field diffraction


• Fraunhofer Diffraction: Far field diffraction

Ref: wikipedia
Diffraction: Types

• Fresnel Diffraction: Near field diffraction


In the Fresnel diffraction, the source and the
screen are at finite distances from the obstacle
producing diffraction. In such a case the wave
front undergoing diffraction is either spherical or
cylindrical.

Ref: wikipedia
Diffraction: Types

• Fraunhofer Diffraction: Far field diffraction


The diffraction pattern is viewed at a long distance
from the diffracting object.
In the Fraunhofer diffraction, the source and the
screen are at infinite distances from the obstacle
producing diffraction. Hence in this case the wave
front undergoing diffraction is plane. The diffracted
rays which are parallel to one another are brought
to focus with the help of a convex lens. Fraunhofer
pattern is easier to observe practically by a
spectrometer.

Ref: wikipedia
Diffraction: Types
In a normally-operating
antenna, positive and
negative charges have no
way of leaving and are
separated from each other
by the excitation "signal" (a
transmitter or other EM
exciting potential). This
generates an oscillating (or
reversing) electrical dipole,
which affects both the near
field and the far field. In
general, the purpose of
antennas is to communicate
wirelessly for long distances
using far fields, and this is
their main region of
operation (however, certain
antennas specialized
Ref: wikipedia for near-field
communication do exist).
Diffraction: Types
• Near field diffraction: Dipole,
where the potential energy
momentarily stored in this
magnetic field is indicative of the
reactive near field.

• Far field diffraction: Black hole.


The radiation pattern can extend
into the far field, where the
reactive stored energy has no
significant presence.

Ref: wikipedia
Diffraction

Aperture Slit types


• rectangular, • plane diffraction
• square, grating,
• circular • single slit,
• double slit gap,
• many slit or n-slit

Ref: wikipedia
rectangular aperture

square aperture
Huygen’s Principle

Huygens' principle applied to both plane and spherical waves. Each point on the
wave front AA can be thought of as a radiator of a spherical wave that expands
out with velocity c, traveling a distance ct after time t. A secondary wave front
BB is formed from the addition of all the wave amplitudes from the wave front
AA.
Diffraction by a Circular Aperture

In fig. S is source of
A monochromatic light, AB is
circular aperture and P is
O
S P point on the screen.
Let  be the path
B Difference for the wave rea-
ching P along the paths SAP
and SOP.
Suppose, SO = a, OP = b and OA = r.

  SA  AP  SOP
 (a  r )  (b  r )  (a  b)
2 2 1/ 2 2 2 1/ 2

2 2
r 1/ 2 r 1/ 2
 a(1  2 )  b(1  2 )  (a  b)
a b
2 2
r r
 a(1  2  .......) b(1  2  ....)  (a  b)
2a 2b
2
r 1 1
  (  )
2 a b
1 1 2
  2 .......(1)
a b r

If position of the screen is such that m full


number of half period zone can be constructed
on the aperture then the path difference
m
 
2
or ,2  m
Substituting this value in equ(1)

1 1 m
 
a b r2
The point P will be maximum or minimum
Intensity depending on whether n odd or even.

m is odd P will be bright


m is even P will be dark
Intensity Distribution
P'
A AB is circular aperture
P and P© is two points on
O P
the screen and OP is b.
B Let r is the radius
of the circular aperture.
b Path difference between
secondary waves reaching
at P'
  BP©
P  AP
P©
 [(b 2  ( y  r ) 2 ]1/ 2  [(b 2  ( y  r ) 2 ]1/ 2
( y  r ) 1/ 2
2
( y  r ) 1/ 2
2
 b[1  2
]  b[1  2
]
b b
( y  r )2 ( y  r )2
b 2
b 2
2b 2b
1
 [( y  r ) 2  ( y  r ) 2 ]
2b
1 2 yr
  ( 4 yr ) 
2b b
The point P© will be dark if the path difference

  2m / 2
2 ym r
 2m / 2 
b
mb
ym 
2r
ym is the distance of mth dark fringe.
Similarly P' will be bright if the path difference

  (2m  1) / 2
2 ym r
 (2m  1) / 2 
b
(2m  1)b
ym 
4r
ym is the distance of mth bright fringe.
Ex. In a circular aperture of 1.2mm diameter is
illuminated by plane waves of monochromatic
light. The diffracted light is received at a distant
screen which is gradually moved towards the
aperture. The center of the circular patch of light
first becomes dark when the screen is 30cm
from the aperture. Calculate the wave length of
light.
Ex. In a monochromatic beam of light of wave
length 6400A passing through a slit 1.6mm falls
on a screen held close to the slit. The screen is
then gradually moved away and middle of the
patch of light on it becomes dark when screen
at a certain distance. Calculate the distance.
Diffraction: Single slit

• A long slit of infinitesimal


width which is illuminated
by light diffracts the light
into a series of circular
waves and the wavefront
which emerges from the
slit is a cylindrical wave of
uniform intensity.

Ref: wikipedia
Diffraction at Single Slit
Diffraction

• What is f-stop scale?


The f-number of an optical system (such as a camera
lens) is the ratio of the system's focal length to the
diameter of the entrance pupil. It is a dimensionless
number that is a quantitative measure of lens speed, and
an important concept in photography. It is also known as
the focal ratio, f-ratio, or f-stop. The f-number is
commonly indicated using a hooked f with the format
f/N, where N is the f-number.

Ref: wikipedia
Diffraction
• What is its uses in camera?
Most modern lenses use a standard f-stop scale, which is an
approximately geometric sequence of numbers that corresponds to
the sequence of the powers of the square root of 2: f/1, f/1.4, f/2,
f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6, f/8, f/11, f/16, f/22, f/32, f/45, f/64, f/90, f/128, etc.
Each element in the sequence is one stop lower than the element to
its left, and one stop higher than the element to its right. The values of
the ratios are rounded off to these particular conventional numbers, to
make them easier to remember and write down. The sequence above
is obtained by approximating the following exact geometric sequence:
f / 1 = f ( 2 ) 0 , f / 1.4 = f ( 2 ) 1 , f / 2 = f ( 2 ) 2 , f / 2.8 = f ( 2 ) 3 ⋯

Ref: wikipedia
Diffraction

• Depth of field increases with f-number, as


illustrated in the image here. This means that
photographs taken with a low f-number (large
aperture) will tend to have subjects at one
distance in focus, with the rest of the image
(nearer and farther elements) out of focus

Ref: wikipedia
Diffraction
Pic:
Compariso
n of f/32
(top-left
corner) and
f/5
(bottom-
right
corner)

Ref: wikipedia

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