AQA A Level Physics Your notes

Diffraction
Contents
Single Slit Diffraction
The Diffraction Grating

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 Single Slit Diffraction
Your notes

Diffraction
Diffraction is:
The spreading out of waves after they pass through a narrow gap or around an obstruction
Diffraction effects are most noticeable when the wavelength of the wave and the width
of the gap are similar in size
For light, this effect becomes significant with very narrow slits, such as those used in
single or double slit experiments

Diffraction: after passing through a narrow gap, the waves curve as they spread out

Single slit diffraction pattern

The diffraction pattern of light passing through a single slit is a series of light and dark
fringes on a screen
The bright fringes are areas of maximum intensity, produced by the constructive
interference of each part of the wavefront as it passes through the slit
The dark fringes are areas of zero or minimum intensity, produced by the
destructive interference of each part of the wavefront as it passes through the slit

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 Your notes

The diffraction pattern produced by a laser beam diffracted through a single slit onto a
screen is different to the diffraction pattern produced through a double slit
The central maximum is:
much wider and brighter than the other bright fringes
much wider than that of the double-slit diffraction pattern
On either side of the wide central maxima are much narrower and less bright maxima
These get dimmer as the order increases

Single slit intensity pattern

If a laser emitting blue light is directed at a single slit, where the slit width is similar in size
to the wavelength of the light, its intensity pattern will be as follows:

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 Your notes

The intensity pattern of blue laser light diffracted through a single slit
The features of the single slit intensity pattern are:
The central bright fringe has the greatest intensity of any fringe and is called
the central maximum
The dark fringes are regions with zero intensity
Moving away from the central maxima either side, the intensity of each bright
fringe gets less

Single slit diffraction and intensity patterns of

white light
A source of white light diffracted through a single slit will produce a diffraction pattern
which is different to that produced by a double slit (or a diffraction grating)

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 The diffraction pattern of white light diffracted through a single slit
The central maximum is bright white because constructive interference from all the Your notes
colours happens here:
Much wider and brighter than the other bright fringes
Much wider than that of the double-slit diffraction pattern
All other maxima are composed of a spectrum
Separate diffraction patterns can be observed for each wavelength of light
The shortest wavelength (violet / blue) would appear nearest to the central
maximum because it is diffracted less
The longest wavelength (red) would appear furthest from the central maximum
because it is diffracted more
The colours look blurry, and further away from the central maximum, the fringe spacing
gets so small that the spectra eventually merge without any space between them
As the maxima move further away from the central maximum, the wavelengths
of blue observed decrease and the wavelengths of red observed increase
A source of white light diffracted through a single slit will produce the following intensity
pattern:
The central maxima is equal in intensity to that of monochromatic light
The non-central maxima are wider and less intense
The fringe spacing between the maxima get smaller
The amount of red wavelengths in the pattern increases with increasing
maxima, n increases from n = 1, 2, 3...
The amount of blue wavelengths decrease with increasing maxima

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 The intensity pattern for the diffraction of white light through a single slit

Single slit diffraction and Young's fringes Your notes

In Young's double slit experiment, light passing through the two slits interfere, but each
slit also diffracts light like a single slit
The double-slit interference pattern has equally spaced intensity peaks with maxima of
equal intensity
The single-slit intensity pattern has a distinctive central maximum and subsequent
maxima at lower intensity
Together, the combined intensity pattern has equally spaced bright fringes but now
within a single slit 'envelope'

Combined single-slit intensity pattern and double-slit interference pattern

Single Slit Diffraction

As discussed above, the effects of diffraction are most prominent when the gap size is
approximately the same as the wavelength of the wave
As the gap size increases, compared to the wavelength, the waves spread out less
after they pass through the gap

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 Your notes

The size of the gap (compared to the wavelength) affects how much the waves spread
out when diffracted through a gap

Changes in wavelength
When the wavelength passing through the gap is increased, then the wave diffracts
more
This increases the angle of diffraction of the waves as they pass through the slit
So the width of the bright maxima is also increased
Red light, which has the longest wavelength of visible light, will produce a diffraction
pattern with wide fringes
Blue light, which has a much shorter wavelength, will produce a diffraction pattern with
narrow fringes

Fringe width depends on the wavelength of the light

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 If the blue laser is replaced with a red laser:
There is more diffraction as the waves pass through the single slit Your notes
So the fringes in the intensity pattern would therefore be wider

The intensity pattern of red laser light shows that longer wavelengths diffract more than
shorter wavelengths

Changes in slit width

If the slit was made narrower:
The angle of diffraction is greater
So, the waves spread out more beyond the slit
The intensity graph will show that:
The intensity of the maxima decreases
The width of the central maxima increases
The spacing between fringes is wider

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 Your notes

When the slits are made wider then the fringes become narrower and vice versa

Worked Example
When a wave is travelling through air, which scenario best demonstrates diffraction?
A. UV radiation through a gate post
B. Sound waves passing a steel rod
C. Radio waves passing between human hair
D. X-rays passing through atoms in a crystalline solid
Answer: D
Diffraction is most prominent when the wavelength is close to the aperture size
UV waves have a wavelength between 4 × 10–7 – 1 × 10–8 m so won’t be diffracted
by a gate post
Sound waves have a wavelength of 1.72 × 10–2 – 17 m so would not be diffracted
by the diffraction grating
Radio waves have a wavelength of 0.1 – 106 m so would not be diffracted by
human hair

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 X-rays have a wavelength of 1 × 10–8 – 4 × 10–13 m which is roughly the gap
between atoms in a crystalline solid
Your notes
Therefore, the correct answer is D

Examiner Tips and Tricks

When drawing diffracted waves, take care to keep the wavelength (the distance
between each wavefront) constant. It is only the amplitude of the wave that changes
when diffracted.

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The Diffraction Grating
Your notes

The Diffraction Grating

A diffraction grating is a piece of optical equipment that also creates a diffraction
pattern when it diffracts:
Monochromatic light into bright and dark fringes
White light into its different wavelength components

A laser light is diffracted using a diffraction grating

A diffraction grating consists of a large number of very thin, equally spaced parallel slits
carved into a glass plate

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 Your notes

A diffraction grating consists of many parallel, equally spaced slits cut into the glass plate
The Diffraction Grating Equation
Diffraction gratings are useful because they create a sharper pattern than a double slit
This means their bright fringes are narrower and brighter while their dark regions are
wider and darker

A diffraction grating is used to produce narrow bright fringes when laser light is diffracted
through it
Just like for single slit diffraction and double-slit interference, the regions where
constructive interference occurs are also the regions of maximum intensity
Their location can be calculated using the diffraction grating equation

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 Your notes

Where:
n is the order of the maxima, the number of the maxima away from the central (n = 0)
d is the distance between the slits on the grating (m)
θ is the angle of diffraction of the light of order n from the normal as it leaves the
diffraction grating (°)
λ is the wavelength of the light from the source (m)

Slit Spacing
Diffraction gratings come in different sizes
The sizes are determined by the number of lines per millimetre (lines / mm) or lines
per m
This is represented by the symbol N
d can be calculated from N using the equation
If N is given in terms of lines per mm then d will be in mm
If N is given in terms of lines per m then d will be in m

1
d = N

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 Diffraction gratings come in different sizes according to the number of lines per mm
Angular Separation Your notes
The angular separation of each maxima is calculated by rearranging the grating equation
to make θ the subject
The angle θ is taken from the centre meaning the higher orders of n are at greater angles

Angular separation increases as the order of maxima increases

The angular separation between two angles is found by subtracting the smaller angle
from the larger one
The angular separation between the first and second maxima at n1 and n2 is θ2 – θ1

Orders of Maxima
The maximum angle of diffraction with which maxima can be seen is when the beam is at
right angles to the diffraction grating
This means θ = 90o and sin θ = 1
The highest order of maxima visible is therefore calculated by the equation:

d
n = λ
Since n is an integer number of maxima, if the value obtained is a decimal it must be
rounded down to determine the highest-order visible
E.g If n is calculated as 2.7 then n = 2 is the highest-order visible

Worked Example

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An experiment was set up to investigate light passing through a diffraction grating
with a slit spacing of 1.7 µm. The fringe pattern was observed on a screen. The
wavelength of the light is 550 nm. Your notes

Calculate the angle α between the two second-order lines.

Answer:

Examiner Tips and Tricks

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 Take care that the angle θ is the correct angle taken from the centre and not the angle
taken between two orders of maxima.
Your notes
Derivation of the Diffraction Grating
Equation
When light passes through the slits of the diffraction grating, the path difference at the
zeroth-order maximum is zero
At the first order maxima, there is constructive interference, hence the path difference is
λ

Therefore, at the nth order maxima, the path difference is equal to nλ

Using this diagram and trigonometry, the diffraction grating equation can be derived
Using trigonometry, an expression for the first-order maxima can be written:

λ
sin θ = d
Where:
θ = the angle between the normal and the maxima

λ = the wavelength of the light (m)

d = the slit separation (m)

This means, for n = 1:

λ
sin θ 1 = d
Similarly, for n = 2, where the path difference is 2λ:

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 2λ
sin θ 2 = d Your notes
Therefore, in general, where the path difference is nλ:

nλ
sin θ n = d
A small rearrangement leads to the equation for the diffraction grating:

d sin θ = nλ
Applications of Diffraction Gratings
Diffraction gratings are useful for separating light of different wavelengths with high
resolution
They are used in spectrometers to:
Analyse light from stars
Analyse the composition of a star
Chemical analysis
Measure red shift / rotation of stars
Measure the wavelength / frequency of light from a star
Observe the spectra of materials
Analyse the absorption / emission spectra in stars
Diffraction gratings also play a role in X-ray crystallography:
X-rays are directed at a thin crystal sheet which acts as a diffraction grating to form
a diffraction pattern
This is because the wavelength of X-rays is similar in size to the gaps between the
atoms
This diffraction pattern can be used to measure the atomic spacing in certain
materials
Diffraction gratings are also used in monochromators:
To specifically analyse a wavelength emitted by molecules in diseased cells from a
biopsy sample
To help excite molecules in a sample with a specific wavelength of light
Diffraction gratings are used to select the optimum wavelength of light for use in an
optical fibre

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 Your notes

Diffraction gratings are most commonly used in spectrometers. These devices play a
crucial role in areas of physics such as atomic physics and astrophysics

Examiner Tips and Tricks

Note that while you will be expected to know some applications of diffraction
gratings, you will not be tested on specific apparatus or techniques such as
spectrometry. When describing the use of spectrometers, avoiding using vague
terms such as observe spectra’, ‘spectroscopy’, ‘view absorption / emission
spectrum’, ‘compare spectra’, ‘look at light from stars’.

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