Diffraction

Diffraction
Fraunhofer Diffraction
Geometrical Optics:

light cant turn a corner.

Fraunhofer Diffraction
Physical Optics:

I
Francesco Maria Grimaldi

actually, it can. it can.

actually,
.deviation of light from rectilinear propagation difractio.
Diffraction

Light does not always Shadow of a hand

travel in a straight line. illuminated by a
Helium-Neon laser
It tends to bend around
objects. This tendency is
called diffraction.

Any wave will do this,

including matter waves Shadow of a zinc
and acoustic waves.
oxide crystal
illuminated by a
electrons
Why its hard to see diffraction
Diffraction tends to cause ripples at edges. But a point source is
required to see this effect. A large source masks them.

Screen
with hole Rays from a
point source
yield a perfect
shadow of the
hole. Rays from
other regions
blur the shadow.

Example: a large source (like the sun) casts blurry shadows,

masking the diffraction ripples.
Diffraction of ocean water waves
Ocean waves passing through slits

Diffraction occurs for all waves, whatever the phenomenon.

on the edge of night
on the edge of dawn
in the skies
in the heavens
on the edge of the shadows
With and without diffraction
Diffraction

Any deviation from geometrical optics that results from

obstruction of the wavefront of light.

Obstruction causes local variations in the amplitude or phase of

the wave.

Diffraction can cause image blurriness. So the aberrations.

An optical component that is free of aberrations is called

diffraction limited optics and is still subject to blurriness due
to diffraction.

There is no significant physical distinction

between interference and diffraction.
Huygens Principle
Every point on a wavefront may be regarded as a
source of secondary wavelets.

Planar wavefront:

c t
Huygens: Point source through an aperture

Ignore the
peripheral and back
propagating parts!

In geometrical optics,
this region should be
dark.
Interference and diffraction

In diffraction phenomena, the interfering beams originate

from a continuous distribution of sources; in interference
phenomena the interfering beams originate from a discrete
number of sources. This is not, however, a fundament
physical distinction.
Huygens-Fresnel Principle
Every point on a wavefront may be regarded as a secondary
source of spherical wavelets.

The propagated wave

follows the periphery
of the wavelets.

Huygens, just add the

wavelets considering
Augustin-Jean Fresnel interference!
Far-Field Diffraction
(a.k.a. Fraunhofer Diffraction)

Far enough that Far enough that

source illumination diffracted wavelets are
is a plane wave. plane wave.
Huygens-Fresnel Principle

Every unobstructed point of a wavefront serves as a source of

spherical secondary wavelets. The amplitude of the optical field
at any point is the superposition of these wavelets, considering
their amplitudes and phases.
Suppose light strikes a screen containing an aperture. The
effects of diffraction can be understood by considering the
phasor addition of the electric field for an array of point sources
emitting E-M waves that are unobstructed by the aperture.
The principles of diffraction can be understood by considering
the interference of water waves whose wavelength is made to
vary in comparison to the size of the aperture.
 To illustrate diffraction consider water waves in
a ripple tank: (OPD )max = max = AP BP < AB Destructive interference
of most phasors for
large angles; N large
shadow region
P
(a) < max
A
B
Intermediate region;
N medium, mixed
interference

Effective number of (b) max

point sources N for P2
N=5
phasor construction Constructive
S P0 interference of most
P1 phasors for all angles;
N small Approx.
spherical wave
(c) > max
 Light waves striking
Light wavesanstriking
aperture
an aperture P
ba Fresnel Diffraction (near-field diffraction)
when incoming and outgoing waves are
(a) both non-planar.
S

R
B
C
Source S and Screen C are moved to a
To point on large distance R, resulting in Fraunhofer
distance screen
From
diffraction (Far-field diffraction). As a
(b) distance
source rule-of-thumb: R > b2/ for Fraunhofer
Both incoming and outgoing
diffraction.
Both incoming and outgoing
wave contributions are B
wave contributions P
considered asare
plane waves, Fraunhofer diffraction conditions
considered =plane
andas const.waves,
and = const. produced by lenses, leaving source S and
screen C in their original position. Note that
(c)
S
x
the lenses act to filter non-plane wave
components from striking point P on the
f B f
C
observation screen C.
R6 > R5 > R4 > R3 .
Consider a series of diffraction measurements on a screen
R6 b whose distance (R) from the slit varies from close (bottom) to
far (top).
R5
The diffraction pattern in the near-field (bottom) is sensitive
to variations in R whereas the shape is independent of
distance for R large (top).
R4
The sharp structure shown in the near-field pattern is a result
of rapidly changing phasor (E-field) orientations whose
R3 summations at each point on the screen are sensitive to
distance, slit geometry, and angular spread of the waves. As
shown, small changes in R in the near-field can cause large
R2
changes in the resulting phasor addition and irradiance
distribution on the screen. If a >> , the pattern will resemble
R1 a sharp geometric shadow for near-field distances.
For large distances (e.g., R6 > a2/), the parallel nature of the
Figure 10.2 (a) A succession of diffraction patterns at
increasing distance form a single slit; Fresnel at the bottom plane waves will result in phasor additions yielding smooth
(nearby), going toward Fraunhofer at the top (faraway). The distribution in irradiance, whose shape is independent of R.
gray band corresponds to the width of the slit.
Fresnel (near field) diffraction: Plane of observation is close to
the source. The diffraction pattern changes when the observation
plane moves.

Fraunhofer (far field) diffraction: Both the incoming and

outgoing waves approach being planar. R > b2/. R is the smaller
of the two distances from the source to the aperture and from the
aperture to the observation point. b is the size of the aperture.
The diffraction pattern does not change when moving the
observation plane further away.
P
S
a R2
R1
Single Slit Fraunhofer Diffraction

ds s sin

s
r
b

R
P
Get the amplitudes right!
field
spherical wavelets: amplitude
dE i kr t )
dEP = o e (
r
field

As ds goes to zero,
dEo must go to zero:
dEo = EL ds
field amplitude
per unit width

EL ds i( kr t )
dEP = e
r
Get the phases right! (just like Youngs Double Slit)
Let us set = for the wave from center of the slit (at = 0).

Then, for any other wave originating at height , taking the difference in
phase account, the differential field at point P is

EL ds i( k ( R + )t )
dEP = e
R+

EL ds i( kR t ) ik
= e e
R+

E ds i kR t ) ik
= L e ( e
R
 Now
EL ds i( kR t + ks sin )
dEP = e
R

Get total electric field at P by integrating over width of the slit:

+b 2 +b 2
EL i( kR t ) i( ks sin )

b 2
dE P =
R
e
b 2
e ds

+b 2
i( ks sin )
EL i( kR t ) e
EP = e
R ik sin b 2

=EP
EL i( kR t ) 1
R
e
ik sin
e(
i kb sin
( 2)
e
i( kb sin 2 )
)
 new variable: = 12 kb sin

=EP
EL i( kR t ) b
R
e
2i
( ei e i )

EL i( kR t ) b ( 2i sin )
= e
R 2i

ELb sin i( kR t )
EP = e
R

Calculate intensity:
1
I = 0cEP 2
2
 field at r

0c ELb sin 2
2
sin x
I= sinc x =
2 R 2 x
sinc
an intensity

=I I o sinc 2 I ( ) =
I ( 0 ) sinc 2

Minima at:
= m m = 1, 2 ,...

b sin =
m

Maxima at:
=
tan (graph it!)
We can determine the conditions for maxima in the diffraction pattern
by setting the derivative of the Irradiance to zero: 2
sin
I = I (0)

dI sin 1 1
= I (0) 2 sin 2 + cos
d
cos sin
I ( 0 ) sin
= 2= 0
3

0 or (ii ) cos = sin tan =
(i ) sin =

The first condition (i) is just the condition for

minima that we have already seen (i.e. = m, m =
1, 2, 3, )
The second condition (ii) results in a transcendental
equation whose graphical solutions can be observed
on the left. The solutions can easily be found
numerically: 1.43, 2.46, 3.47which
approaches (m+1/2) for large .
 2
sin
I ( ) = I (0)
2

sin = (kb / 2)sin
I ( ) = I 0

0.047 0.016

dI 2sin ( cos sin )

I=
(0) 0
d 3

sin =0, = , 2 , 3 ... minima

= tan
= , 0, 1.43 , 2.46 , 3.47 ,... maxima
Figure 10.6
(a) Single-slit Fraunhofer diffraction.
(b) Diffraction pattern of a single
vertical slit under point-source
illumination. (E.H.)
 Figure 10.13 The Fraunhofer diffraction pattern of a single
Principal or Central slit. (a) This is the irradiance distribution. (b) Normalized
irradiance for different slit widths: b = , 2, 4, and 10.
Maximum

Minima (I = 0) Subsidiary Maximum (SM)

1st SM 2nd SM 3rd SM

sin
Example: In single slit diffraction, calculate the ratio of intensity (irradiances)
at the central peak maximum to the first of the secondary maxima?

=I 0= 0
( sin 2
2)
=
I =1.43 ( sin 2
2)
=1.43

1
=
( sin 2
2)
=1.43

2
= 2
sin =1.43
(1.43 3.14 )
2

=
sin (1.43 180 )
2


20.18
= = 21.2
0.952
I 1
I =1.43 = =0 = =0.0472
21.2 21.2
Single Slit Fraunhofer Diffraction

ds s sin

s
b

R
 2
=
b
2L
W=
b

W2
W1
b

L1

L2