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Diffraction is the same physical effect as interference, but interference is typically applied to superposition of a few waves and the term diffraction is used when many waves are superposed. [1]: 433 Italian scientist Francesco Maria Grimaldi coined the word diffraction and was the first to record accurate observations of the phenomenon in 1660.
Because diffraction is the result of addition of all waves (of given wavelength) along all unobstructed paths, the usual procedure is to consider the contribution of an infinitesimally small neighborhood around a certain path (this contribution is usually called a wavelet) and then integrate over all paths (= add all wavelets) from the source to the detector (or given point on a screen).
Same double-slit assembly (0.7 mm between slits); in top image, one slit is closed. In the single-slit image, a diffraction pattern (the faint spots on either side of the main band) forms due to the nonzero width of the slit. This diffraction pattern is also seen in the double-slit image, but with many smaller interference fringes.
The Fabry–Pérot interferometer uses interference between multiple reflections. A diffraction grating can be considered to be a multiple-beam interferometer; since the peaks which it produces are generated by interference between the light transmitted by each of the elements in the grating; see interference vs. diffraction for further discussion.
The intra interferometric distance can be several-hundred meters long. TBE is a telescopic beam expander, MPBE is a multiple-prism beam expander. In this approach the probability amplitude for the propagation of a photon from a source s to an interference plane x, via an array of slits j, is given using Dirac's bra–ket notation as [3]
How interference fringes are formed by an optical flat resting on a reflective surface. The gap between the surfaces and the wavelength of the light waves are greatly exaggerated. Newton (test plate) interferometry is frequently used in the optical industry for testing the quality of surfaces as they are being shaped and figured.
In many areas of science, Bragg's law, Wulff–Bragg's condition, or Laue–Bragg interference are a special case of Laue diffraction, giving the angles for coherent scattering of waves from a large crystal lattice. It describes how the superposition of wave fronts scattered by lattice planes leads to a strict relation between the wavelength ...
An aberrated wavefront from a lens under test is reflected from the front and back of the plate to form the interference pattern. Variations on this basic design allow testing of mirrors. Other forms of lateral shearing interferometer, based on the Jamin , Michelson , Mach–Zehnder , and other interferometer designs, have compensated paths and ...