iffraction refers to various phenomena that occur when a wave encounters an obstacle or

a slit. It is defined as the bending of waves around the corners of an obstacle or through an
aperture into the region of geometrical shadow of the obstacle/aperture. The diffracting
object or aperture effectively becomes a secondary source of the propagating wave. Italian
scientist Francesco Maria Grimaldi coined the word "diffraction" and was the first to record
accurate observations of the phenomenon in 1660.[1][2]

Infinitely many points (3 shown) along length d project phase contributions from the wave-front,
producing a continuously varying intensity θ on the registering plate.

In classical physics, the diffraction phenomenon is described by the Huygens–Fresnel

principle that treats each point in a propagating wave-front as a collection of individual
spherical wavelets.[3] The characteristic bending pattern is most pronounced when a wave
from a coherent source (such as a laser) encounters a slit/aperture that is comparable in
size to its wavelength, as shown in the inserted image. This is due to the addition,
or interference, of different points on the wave-front (or, equivalently, each wavelet) that
travel by paths of different lengths to the registering surface. However, if there are
multiple, closely spaced openings, a complex pattern of varying intensity can result.
These effects also occur when a light wave travels through a medium with a
varying refractive index, or when a sound wave travels through a medium with
varying acoustic impedance – all waves diffract, including gravitational waves[citation
needed]
, water waves, and other electromagnetic waves such as X-rays and radio waves.
Furthermore, quantum mechanics also demonstrates that matter possesses wave-like
properties, and hence, undergoes diffraction (which is measurable at subatomic to
molecular levels).[4]
Diffraction and interference are closely related and are nearly – if not exactly – identical in
meaning. Richard Feynman observes that "diffraction" tends to be used when referring to
many wave sources, and "interference" when only a few are considered.[5]

Contents

 1History
 2Mechanism
 3Examples
o 3.1Single-slit diffraction
o 3.2Diffraction grating
o 3.3Circular aperture
o 3.4General aperture
o 3.5Propagation of a laser beam
 o 3.6Diffraction-limited imaging
o 3.7Speckle patterns
o 3.8Babinet's principle
 4Patterns
 5Particle diffraction
 6Bragg diffraction
 7Coherence
 8See also
 9References
 10External links

History[edit]

Thomas Young's sketch of two-slit diffraction for water waves, which he presented to the Royal
Society in 1803.

The effects of diffraction of light were first carefully observed and characterized
by Francesco Maria Grimaldi, who also coined the term diffraction, from the
Latin diffringere, 'to break into pieces', referring to light breaking up into different directions.
The results of Grimaldi's observations were published posthumously in 1665.[6][7][8] Isaac
Newton studied these effects and attributed them to inflexion of light rays. James
Gregory (1638–1675) observed the diffraction patterns caused by a bird feather, which was
effectively the first diffraction grating to be discovered.[9] Thomas Young performed a
celebrated experiment in 1803 demonstrating interference from two closely spaced slits.
[10]
 Explaining his results by interference of the waves emanating from the two different slits,
he deduced that light must propagate as waves. Augustin-Jean Fresnel did more definitive
studies and calculations of diffraction, made public in 1816[11] and 1818,[12] and thereby gave
great support to the wave theory of light that had been advanced by Christiaan
Huygens[13] and reinvigorated by Young, against Newton's particle theory.

Mechanism[edit]

Photograph of single-slit diffraction in a circular ripple tank

In classical physics diffraction arises because of the way in which waves propagate; this is
described by the Huygens–Fresnel principle and the principle of superposition of waves.
The propagation of a wave can be visualized by considering every particle of the
transmitted medium on a wavefront as a point source for a secondary spherical wave. The
wave displacement at any subsequent point is the sum of these secondary waves. When
waves are added together, their sum is determined by the relative phases as well as the
amplitudes of the individual waves so that the summed amplitude of the waves can have
any value between zero and the sum of the individual amplitudes. Hence, diffraction
patterns usually have a series of maxima and minima.

In the modern
quantum
mechanical
understanding of
light propagation
through a slit (or
slits) every photon
has what is known
as
a wavefunction whi
ch describes its
path from the
emitter through the
slit to the screen.
The wavefunction
— the path the
photon will take —
is determined by
the physical
surroundings such
as slit geometry,
screen distance
and initial
conditions when the
photon is created.
In important
experiments (A low-
intensity double-slit
experiment was
first performed by
G. I. Taylor in 1909,
see double-slit
experiment) the
existence of the
photon's
wavefunction was
demonstrated. In
the quantum
approach the
diffraction pattern is
created by the
distribution of
paths, the
observation of light
and dark bands is
the presence or
absence of photons
in these areas (no
interference!). The
quantum approach
has some striking
similarities to
the Huygens-
Fresnel principle; in
that principle the
light becomes a
series of
individually
distributed light
sources across the
slit which is similar
to the limited
number of paths (or
wave functions)
available for the
photons to travel
through the slit.
There are various analytical models which allow the diffracted field to be calculated,
including the Kirchhoff-Fresnel diffraction equation which is derived from the wave
equation,[14] the Fraunhofer diffraction approximation of the Kirchhoff equation which applies
to the far field and the Fresnel diffraction approximation which applies to the near field.
Most configurations cannot be solved analytically, but can yield numerical solutions
through finite element and boundary element methods.
It is possible to obtain a qualitative understanding of many diffraction phenomena by
considering how the relative phases of the individual secondary wave sources vary, and in
particular, the conditions in which the phase difference equals half a cycle in which case
waves will cancel one another out.
The simplest descriptions of diffraction are those in which the situation can be reduced to a
two-dimensional problem. For water waves, this is already the case; water waves
propagate only on the surface of the water. For light, we can often neglect one direction if
the diffracting object extends in that direction over a distance far greater than the
wavelength. In the case of light shining through small circular holes we will have to take into
account the full three-dimensional nature of the problem.
 

Computer generated intensity pattern formed on a screen by diffraction from a square

aperture.