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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).
Fresnel diffraction of circular aperture, plotted with Lommel functions. This is the Fresnel diffraction integral; it means that, if the Fresnel approximation is valid, the propagating field is a spherical wave, originating at the aperture and moving along z. The integral modulates the amplitude and phase of the spherical wave.
In optics, the Fraunhofer diffraction equation is used to model the diffraction of waves when plane waves are incident on a diffracting object, and the diffraction pattern is viewed at a sufficiently long distance (a distance satisfying Fraunhofer condition) from the object (in the far-field region), and also when it is viewed at the focal plane of an imaging lens.
The speed of a wave in water depends on the depth, so the ripples slow down as they pass over the glass. This causes the wavelength to decrease. If the junction between the deep and shallow water is at an angle to the wavefront, the waves will refract. In the diagram above, the waves can be seen to bend towards the normal.
The concept of Bragg diffraction applies equally to neutron diffraction [4] and approximately to electron diffraction. [5] In both cases the wavelengths are comparable with inter-atomic distances (~ 150 pm). Many other types of matter waves have also been shown to diffract, [6] [7] and also light from objects with a larger ordered structure ...
Close to an aperture or atoms, often called the "sample", the electron wave would be described in terms of near field or Fresnel diffraction. [12]: Chpt 7-8 This has relevance for imaging within electron microscopes, [1]: Chpt 3 [2]: Chpt 3-4 whereas electron diffraction patterns are measured far from the sample, which is described as far-field or Fraunhofer diffraction. [12]:
A blazed diffraction grating reflecting only the green portion of the spectrum from a room's fluorescent lighting. For a diffraction grating, the relationship between the grating spacing (i.e., the distance between adjacent grating grooves or slits), the angle of the wave (light) incidence to the grating, and the diffracted wave from the grating is known as the grating equation.