Single and Double-slit Diraction Eects

Liem Nguyen
Dept. of Physics and Astronomy
University of Hawaii at Manoa
liemhn@hawaii.edu

Abstract
Diraction patterns of single and double-slits are observed to measure the angular
positions of the rst and second minima as well as the rst maxima, respectively. The
relative intensity of the double-slit diraction pattern's rst maxima with respect to the
central fringe was also measured. The experiment consisted of an optical rail to which
a HeNe laser and slit apparatus were attached. The laser beam was then centered on
the slit to create a uniform diraction pattern. A photodiode detector box moving at a
speed of 3.2 cm/min passed in front of the pattern in order to observe intensity patterns
on an oscilloscope. The rst and second minimas of a single-slit of width a = 0.2mm
were determined to be located at (3.10 0.05) 103 rad and (6.24 0.05) 103 rad
respectively, which are 1.3 and 0.04 away from their expected values. The angular
position of the rst maxima of the double-slit diraction pattern was measured to be
(1.10 0.05) 103 rad, which is 0.9 away from the expected value. From this value,
the slit separation was calculated to be 0.575 0.026 mm, which is 1.0 away from
the expected value of 0.6mm. The relative intensity of rst maxima with respect to the
central fringe was measured to be 0.858 0.002, which is 8.5 away from the predicted
value.

1 Introduction
Diraction occurs when waves such as water and sound bend around an obstacle or aperture. The rst observation of the diraction of light was made by Francesco Maria Grimaldi
during the 17th century [1]. Grimaldi observed that light did not follow a linear path when
transmitted through a hole, but instead tended to spread out to resemble a cone shape.
During that same time period, mathematician James Gregory observed diraction eects of
light on a bird feather [2]. Then in 1678, mathematician Christiaan Huygens introduced his
wave theory of light which argued that each element along or surrounding an aperture, that
light is incident upon, is a source of a spherical wave [3]. In 1803, scientist Thomas Young
performed his famous experiment, the double-slit experiment, in which a light source emitted
light on screens of one and two slits, respectively, resulting in observable diraction eects
against a third screen. Young's experiment went on to be studied and conrmed by scientist
Augustin-Jean Fresnel in 1815 to validate Huygens' wave theory of light [4].
1

2 Theory
Single-slit diraction
For monochromatic light incident on a thin slit of width a, each element along the slit can
be thought of as a source of secondary wave by Huygen's principle. As shown in gure-1,
consider two elements, one at the midpoint of the slit and one near the upper edge. Rays
from each element source are incident at point P on the screen a length L away from the slit.
Letting the angle of the midpoint ray be with respect to the horizontal, the path length
dierence between the upper and lower is considered. For constructive interference, the path
length dierence is an integer value of the wavelength. For destructive interference, the path
dierence is half wavelength. The pathlength dierence l from geometry along the slit,
sin() =

l
a/2

a
sin() = l
2
m
=
2

for m = 1, 3, 5, ...Thus
(1)

asin() = m

for destructive interference. The intensity I of a fringe due to a single slit is given by
2

sin2

where I0 is the intensity of the central fringe and =

(2)

I = I0

asin

[5].

Figure 1: Parameters to determine the angular position of minima/maxima in single-slit

diraction theory.

Double-slit diraction
For two slits each of width a and slit separationd as shown in gure-2. Two element sources
are separated by the distance d. At point P, a distance y above the centerline, the path
dierence of the rays is an integer multiple of the wavelength for constructive interference.
The angle of the midpoint between the element sources to the point P is with respect to
the horizontal. Geometry then relates the angle and the path dierence l.
sin() =

l
d

dsin() = l
= m

for m = 0, 1, 2,. . . Thus for constructive interference

dsin() = m

(3)

The intensity of fringes due to the double slit is similar to the single slit in equation-2, but
[6].
now carries an additional factor of cos2 where = dsin

I = I0 (

sincos 2
)

(4)

We see that as d goes to zero, equation-4 becomes the intensity for the single slit. This
relation also brings up the fact that a dark fringe arises at m, if d is integer multiple m of a.

Figure 2: Parameters to determine the angular position of minima/maxima in double-slit

diraction theory.

3 Procedure
The experimental set up consists of a HeNe laser with wavelength = 632.8 nm as the
monochromatic light source. The slit is positioned on the optical rail in line with the laser.
A linearly moving detector box located at distance L from the slit moves back and forth
in front of the slit at constant speed v = 3.2cm/min [7] perpendicular to the laser beam.
The detector box encloses a photodiode that is connected to an oscilloscope to display the
diraction intensity pattern.

Figure 3: Experimental setup for the Single and Double Slit diraction eect.
For the Single-slit, a slit of width 0.2mm was used. The distance from the slit to the
moving detector box was L = 122.0 0.1 cm. The HeNe laser was adjusted until the beam
was at the center of slit. The diraction pattern was checked to ensure proper beam alignment. With the oscilloscope recording data, the detector box was passed across the diraction
pattern. The position of the rst and second minima of intensity pattern, with respect to
the central fringe, was measured using the oscilloscope's digital cursor.
For the Double-slit, a double-slit of slit width a = 0.12mm and separation d = 0.6mm
was attached to the rail at the same distance L from the moving detector box. The slit
was adjusted until the laser beam was incident on the midpoint between the slits. With the
oscilloscope recording data, the detector box was passed across the diraction pattern. The
position of the rst maxima, with respect to the central fringe, as well as the amplitudes of
the central fringe and rst maxima were measured using the oscilloscope digital cursors.

4 Data

Figure 4: Screenshot of single (left) and double-slit (right) diraction pattern data acquired
from the digital oscilloscope. X cursors were used to measure the timing dierences. Y cursors
(not shown) were used to measure the amplitudes of the central fringe and rst maxima of
double-slit diraction pattern.

Single-slit
m
1
2

Timing Dierence , s (0.1)

6.500
13.10

Table 1: Timing dierences of rst and second minima of single-slit diraction pattern

Double-slit
Measurement
1st maxima (s)
Central Fringe Amplitude (mV)
1st maxima Amplitude (mV)

Value Error
2.300 0.1
53.60 0.2
46.00 0.2

Table 2: Measured timing dierences and amplitudes of rst maxima and central fringe in
double-slit intensity pattern.
Error was determined through the accuracy of reading the ruler and oscilloscope. The error
of the detector box speed is assumed to be negligible. The distance L in both cases is
112.0 0.1 cm.

5 Calculations & Results

Single-slit
The oscilloscope was used to measure the time width of the rst minima with respect to
the central fringe. With the known speed v of the detector box, the distance of the rst
minima is
y1 = v T1
= 3.2(cm/min) 6.500s
= 0.3467 cm
y = v T1
= 0.005 cm

Thus y1 = 0.347 .005 cm. The geometry of the experimental setup, as seen in gure-1, was
used to determine the angular position where tan1 = yL1 . For small angles, tan1 1 . Thus
1 = (3.10 0.05) 103 rad

Similiarly for m = 2,
y2 = 0.699 .005 cm
2 = (6.24 0.05) 103 rad

Error for the angular position is determined by equation-5.

s

= (

L 2
y
) + ( )2
L
y

(5)

Double-slit
The oscilloscope was used to measure the time width of the rst maxima (with respect to
the central fringe) to be T1 = 2.300s. With the speed v of the detector box known,
y1 = 0.123 .005 cm

Using geometry of the experimental set up, as shown in gure-2, of the double slit,
1 = (1.10 0.05) 103 rad

The slit separation can be determined with d =

sin(1 )

. We nd that

d = 0.575 0.026 mm

The ratio of the rst maxima intensity with respect to the central fringe was measured
to be
R = 0.858 0.002

Error for intensity ratio is determined by equation-6. A summary of the resulting measurements performed in this experiment is displayed in table-1.
s

R = R (

Experiment Variable
Single-slit
Double-slit

1
2
1
d
R

I0
I1 2
) + ( )2
I1
I0

(6)

Value

(3.10 0.05) 103 rad

(6.24 0.05) 103 rad
(1.10 0.05) 103 rad
0.575 0.026 mm
0.858 0.005

Table 3: Summary of measurements for single and double-slit experiments

6 Discussion
The angular positions of the 1st and 2nd minima for the single-slit of width a = 0.2mm
was predicted to be 1 = 3.164 103 rad and 2 = 6.238 103 rad, respectively. From the
results above, the measurements were 1.3 and 0.04 away from their expected value. The
measurement for the timing dierences resulted in a very small for the 2nd minima. This
could be due to an overestimation of error. An improvement would be to collect multiple
measurements to determine an average and resulting error.
For the double-slit of slit width a = 0.12mm and separation d = 0.6mm, the angular
position of the rst maxima was predicted to be located at 1.055 103 rad. The measured
value was determined to be 0.9 away from the expected value. The angular position value
was then used to determine the slit separation d, which was calculated to be 1.0 away
from the expected value. The ratio of rst maxima intensity and central fringe intensity was
predicted to be R = 0.875, which is 3.4 away from the expected value. The high sigma value
may be due to the precision of measuring the amplitudes. The oscilloscope's scale for the Y
axis was 10mV per division. Decreasing to 5mv per divison would increase the precision of
measuring. Measuring the peak of the amplitudes was also dicult due variations along the
peak. Multiple measurements in this case would have been a good method to try.

7 Conclusion
Single and double-slit diraction intensity patterns were observed. A HeNe laser incident
on the slits projected the diraction pattern in front of a moving detector box, which housed
a photodiode. Intensity patterns were then observed on a oscilloscope. For the single-slit
diraction pattern, the rst and second minima fringes were measured to be located at
(3.10 0.05) 103 rad and (6.24 0.05) 103 rad from the central fringe, which are
1.3 and 0.04 away from the expected value, respectively. For the double-slit diraction
pattern, the rst maxima was located at (1.10 0.05) 103 rad, which is 0.9 away from
the expected value. The slit separation d was then calculated to be 0.575 0.026 mm, which
is 1.0 away from the expected value. The relative intensity of rst maxima with respect to
the central fringe was measured to be 0.858 0.005, which is 3.4 away from the expected.
The interference of light contructively and destructively due to slits resulted in reasonable
values for the angular positions of maximas and minimas to support the wave theory of light.

References
[1] Florian Cajori "A History of Physics in Its Elementary Branches: Including the Evolution
of Physical Laboratories." The Macmillan Co., 1899, page 88
[2] http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Gregory.html
[3] Hugh D. Young and Roger A. Freedman "University Physics, 12th ed.", Addison-Wesley,
2007, page 1144
[4] Florian Cajori "A History of Physics in Its Elementary Branches: Including the Evolution
of Physical Laboratories." The Macmillan Co., 1899, page 143
[5] Hugh D. Young and Roger A. Freedman "University Physics, 12th ed.", Addison-Wesley,
2007, page 1240
[6] Hugh D. Young and Roger A. Freedman "University Physics, 12th ed.", Addison-Wesley,
2007, page 1244
[7] Matsuno, S. Single and Double-slit Lab Manual, 4 (2012)