Shoaib Mustafa

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 DIFFRACTION AND WAVE THEORY

History:
The history of diffraction started with Francesco Maria Grimaldi in 1665, who first observed
and named the phenomenon. He noted that light bends around obstacles, creating patterns that
couldn’t be explained by straight-line motion. Later, Christiaan Huygens (1678) introduced the
wave theory of light, proposing that each point on a wavefront acts as a source of secondary
wavelets, a principle key to understanding diffraction.

In 1801, Thomas Young demonstrated diffraction through his double-slit experiment, proving
light's wave nature. Augustin-Jean Fresnel (1818) formalized diffraction mathematically,
combining Huygens' principle with interference. James Clerk Maxwell (1865) reinforced these
ideas with his electromagnetic wave theory. In the 20th century, quantum mechanics revealed
that particles like electrons also exhibit diffraction, confirming wave-particle duality.

Diffraction:
Diffraction is the phenomenon in which waves bend around obstacles or spread out after passing
through narrow openings, instead of traveling in straight lines. It occurs when the size of the
obstacle or slit is comparable to the wavelength of the wave. This bending and spreading lead to
interference patterns, show the wave nature of light or other waves.

Figure: Diffraction of Light

Example:
The colorful pattern seen on the surface of a CD or DVD is the best example of Diffraction. The
closely spaced grooves on the disc act like tiny slits, causing light to diffract and split into
different colors, creating a rainbow effect. These examples illustrate how diffraction affects both
sound and light in our daily experiences.

Figure: Colorful pattern seen on the surface of a CD or DVD

Explination of Diffractions:

Edges
The edges of the slit or obstacle are the boundaries where waves interact to create diffraction
patterns. They are the starting point of diffraction because these are where light waves spread
and interfere. For example, Imagine a group of dancers on a stage. The edges of the stage are like
the edges of a slit in diffraction—these boundaries influence how the dancers (waves) spread out
into the space around them.

Floaters
Floaters could represent the individual wavelets (secondary sources of light waves) that emanate
from points along the edges of the slit. These wavelets "float" into the space beyond the slit and
interfere to form patterns.For example, Picture drops of water from a fountain. Each droplet
represents a "floater" that spreads out and interacts with other droplets, creating beautiful ripples
or patterns on the surface of a pond. In diffraction, these wavelets interact to form a visible
pattern of maxima and minima.
Cheerleaders

Cheerleaders symbolize the bright regions (maxima) in the diffraction pattern, where
constructive interference amplifies the wave's intensity. These bright spots are the highlights of
the pattern and represent areas of synchronized energy. For example, Imagine an audience
cheering loudly in certain spots during a game. These loud cheers are like the bright maxima,
where many voices (waves) come together in sync to create intense moments of excitement. The
secondary maxima would be smaller groups cheering, while the central maximum is the loudest
and most enthusiastic group.

Diffraction by a Single Slit: Locating the Minima;

When light is incident on a slit, with a size comparable to the wavelength of light, an alternating
dark and bright pattern can be observed. This phenomenon is called the single slit diffraction.
According to Huygens' principle, when light is incident on the slit, secondary wavelets generate
from each point.

Figure: Diffraction by Single slit.

Formula of Single slit Diffraction:

Formula for single slit diffraction is:

D sin θ = mλ
Where m = 1,−1,2,−2,3, . . . (destructive).
where D is the slit width.
λ is the light's wavelength.
θ is the angle relative to the original direction of the light.
m is the order of the minimum.
Explanation ofDiffraction by a Single Slit: Locating the Minima:
Let us now examine the diffraction pattern of plane waves of light of wavelength l that are
diffracted by a single long, narrow slit of width a in an otherwise opaque screen B, as shown in
cross section in Fig. 36-4. (In that figure, the slit’s length extends into and out of the page, and
the incoming wavefronts are parallel to screen B.) When the diffracted light reaches viewing
screen C, waves from different points within the slit undergo interference and produce a
diffraction pattern of bright and dark fringes (interference maxima and minima) on the screen.
To locate the fringes, we shall use a procedure somewhat similar to the one we used to locate the
fringes in a two-slit interference pattern. However, diffraction is more mathematically
challenging, and here we shall be able to find equations for only the dark fringes.

First Minimum:
We can repeat this analysis for any other pair of rays originating at corresponding points in the
two zones (say, at the midpoints of the zones) and extending to point P1. Each such pair of rays
has the same path length difference (a/2) sin u. Setting this common path length difference equal
to l/2 (our condition for the first dark fringe), we have a/2 sin θ = λ/2 which gives us a sin θ = λ
(first minimum) Given slit width a and wavelength l, Eq. 36-1 tells us the angle u of the first dark
fringe above and (by symmetry) below the central axis.

Narrowing the Slit:

Note that if we begin with a $ l and then narrow the slit while holding the wavelength constant,
we increase the angle at which the first dark fringes appear; that is, the extent of the diffraction
(the extent of the flaring and the width of the pattern) is greater for a narrower slit. When we
have reduced the slit width to the wavelength (that is, a l), the angle of the first dark fringes is
90°. Since the first dark fringes mark the two edges of the central bright fringe, that bright fringe
must then cover the entire viewing screen.

Second Minimum:
We find the second dark fringes above and below the central axis as we found the first dark
fringes, except that we now divide the slit into four zones of equal widths a/4,.We then extend
rays r1, r2, r3, and r4 from the top points of the zones to point P2, the location of the second dark
fringe above the central axis.To produce that fringe, the path length difference between r 1 and
r2, that between r2 and r3, and that between r3 and r4 must all be equal to:
λ /2
For D 4 a, we can approximate these four rays as being parallel, at angle u to the central axis. To
display their path length differences, we extend a perpendicular line through each adjacent pair
of rays, as shown in Fig. 36-6b, to form a series of right triangles, each of which has a path
length difference as one side. We see from the top triangle that the path length difference
between r1 and r2 is (a/4) sin u. Similarly, from the bottom triangle, the path length difference
between r3 and r4 is also (a/4) sin u. In fact, the path length difference for any two rays that
originate at corresponding points in two adjacent zones is (a/4) sin u. Since in each such case the
path length difference is equal to l/2, we have:
a/4 sin θ = λ/2
which gives us:
a sin θ = 2λ (second minimum).

All Minima:
We could now continue to locate dark fringes in the diffraction pattern by splitting up the slit
into more zones of equal width. We would always choose an even number of zones so that the
zones (and their waves) could be paired as we have been doing. We would find that the dark
fringes above and below the central axis can be located with the general equation;
asin θ = mλ
for m 1, 2, 3, . . . (minima—dark fringes).
You can remember this result in the following way. But for the full slit width a, and note that the
path length difference between the top and bottom rays equals a sin θ.

Using a Lens:
Equations are derived for the case of D 4 a. However, they also apply if we place a converging
lens between the slit and the viewing screen and then move the screen in so that it coincides with
the focal plane of the lens. The lens ensures that rays which now reach any point on the screen
are exactly parallel (rather than approximately) back at the slit. They are like the initially parallel
rays of that are directed to the focal point by a converging lens.

THE END