Christina Wang 503572334 Lab Section 2 Partners: Claire Chen & Jessica Ryder

Physics 4BL: Experiment 6 Diffraction and Interference Introduction

In this lab, we investigate the wave-like nature of light rays. We will be taking advantage of laser properties, such as the coherence and the small beam divergence, in order to investigate double and multiple slit diffraction and interference.

Experimental Results
Detector Response First, we will measure the profile of the laser without any diffracting elements. After this, we will be able to repeat the measurement with various diffraction gratings in place. The first step is to optimally align the laser. This involves positioning the fiber optics detector, and then aligning the laser onto the fiber optics. The second step is to insert the aperture. This aperture is used to reduce the amount of light hitting the fiber optic. Next, we will take a scan of the laser beam profile. We will start at x=1cm and turn the handle to the linear translator to x=4cm so that the voltage change can fully respond to the low-pass filter response. We will be able to use this data set as our position to voltage conversion since the scan went from 1cm to 4cm. 0.35 0.30 Detector Response (V) 0.25 0.20 0.15 0.10 0.05 0.00 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 Distance (cm) 2.50 3.00 3.50

Figure 1: Graph of beam profile for a scan from x=1cm to x=4cm Next, we used a multimeter to find the voltages at x=1cm and x=4cm. Distance (cm) 1 Voltage (V) 0.674

4 3.32 Table 1: Voltages at certain distances in the beam profile Using the data from above, we were able to calculate out position to voltage conversion. This was done as follows 4 1 3.32 0.674 1.134

Double-Slit Diffraction / Interference Patterns With the 0.1 mm slit in front of the fiber we have sufficient spatial resolution to measure the fine lines of a diffraction pattern of double slits. We will now determine the slit width and slit separation of various double slit diffraction gratings by measuring the diffraction pattern. To verify the procedure, we will measure the diffraction pattern of a grating with known spacings. Then, we will measure the diffraction pattern with unknown parameters and determine them from the data. First, we place a slide support between the laser and the detector. This distance D will be taken to be 40 cm. We will attach the slide with 4 different slits whose values are marked. This will have a double slit width of b=0.04mm and spacing d=0.125mm. It will be positioned so that the beam illuminates the slit. When we look at the transmitted light through the slit, we will see a diffraction pattern, a sequence of lines in horizontal direction. We will scan the whole profile sweeping x=1 to 4cm while recording with the ADC. Adjacent maxima and minima will be used to calculate the slit separation d. From the measured positions of adjacent maxima, we will calculate the slit spacing d and compare it with the given value, 0.125 mm. We will take the laser wavelength to be 670nm. In order to see the dependence of the diffraction pattern on slit spacing we use a slide containing three double slits of different line spacings. The values are not given and will be determined from measurements. We repeat the measurement for these three double slits with unknown parameters. From the data we can evaluate the three slit spacings d. 0.35 0.30 0.25 Voltage (V) 0.20 0.15 0.10 0.05 0.00 0.00 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50 4.00

Distance (cm)

Figure 2: Graph of diffraction pattern for the double slit with slit spacing d=0.125mm

0.09 0.08 0.07 0.06 0.05 0.04 0.03 0.02 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50 4.00

Voltage (V)

Distance (cm)

Figure 3: Graph of diffraction patterns for double slits with unknown slit spacing d

Diffraction Grating We are supplied with a diffraction grating with d=1mm/600 lines. These lines are identical, vertical, and uniformly spaced. This grating will be illuminated with a red diode laser of wavelength 670 nm, and its diffraction pattern will be observed in the transmitted light. We will measure the angles of adjacent maxima with a protractor, and compare these values to the expected results. First, we will expand the circular laser beam into a sheet beam. This will be done with a beam expander placed horizontally into the laser beam, which produces the desired vertical sheet beam. To improve the resolution two vertical metal sheets are placed between the laser and beam expander. These form an adjustable vertical iris, which narrows the horizontal beam width. The sheet beam can then be passed through the diffraction grating. On the transmission side, we will place a protractor horizontally where the beams emerge. We will attempt to verify dsin=n, using the angles of the diffracted beams. The results from these two sections are listed below.
angle (deg) 26.5 22.0 23.5 28.5

Table 2: Measured angles of the diffraction grating for both laser light and white light The first angle in Table 2 is the measured angle for the laser diode. The last three are the angles measured for blue, green, and red light, respectively.

Analysis
Double Slit Diffraction Adjacent maxima of the interference pattern of a double slit are used to calculate the slit separation d. From the measured positions of adjacent maxima of the double slit with known parameters, we can then calculate the slit spacing d and compare it with the given value. The laser wavelength is assumed to be 670 nm. From this data, the first distance between adjacent maxima turned out to be 0.22 cm. Using this value in the equation gives

40 The uncertainty is given by 40

670 0.22 670 . 22

0.122

. 005

13400

0.0277

The experimentally calculated value, 0.122mm, falls within an acceptable uncertainty range of the expected value of 0.125mm. From the data we will now evaluate the slit spacing d for the double slits with unknown parameters. Below is a table of the distances between multiple values of adjacent maxima. x (cm) 0.06 0.08 0.07 0.09 0.05 0.09 0.10 0.07 0.08 Table 3: Distances between adjacent maxima in a slide of unknown spacing d The average slit spacing turns out to be 0.08cm. Using the equation gives 40 670 0.08 0.350

with an uncertainty (given by the standard deviation of the mean) of 0.0158mm. From these values, it seems that the diffraction pattern (the distance between adjacent maxima) decreases with increasing slit spacing d. Diffraction Grating A diffraction grating is many slits equally spaced. This large number of slits affects the diffraction pattern in that a diffraction spectrum easily seen by the eye is created. First, the interference pattern of the diffraction grating with a laser as a light source was measured. This laser had a wavelength of 670nm. We can use this measurement to verify the spacing of the diffraction slits: 600 lines/mm. We will do this by entering the numbers in the equation as follows. 1 sin 26.5 743.7 600 We can calculate the uncertainty in the calculated wavelength as follows. 26.5 600 0.05 74.58

The calculated value, 743.7nm, falls within an acceptable range of uncertainty for the expected value, 670nm. Therefore, we can verify that the slit spacing is 600lines/mm. Next, a white light source was used to illuminate the diffraction grating. Since the position of the diffraction peaks are dependent on wavelength, the different colors will be diffracted a different amount. We will use the measured spacing of the diffraction grating and the diffraction angles to calculate several wavelengths of visible light. For the diffraction grating measurement, the uncertainty is determined by the accuracy of the printed protractor. For blue light: 1 600 sin 22.0 624.3 77.27

Blue light has wavelengths from 450-495nm. This does not fall within the range of uncertainty. For green light: 1 600 sin 23.5 664.6 76.42

Green light has wavelengths 495-570nm. This also does not fall within the range of uncertainty. This may be due to an error in reading the protractor angles of the diffracted light. For red light: 1 600 sin 28.5 795.3 73.23

Red light has wavelengths from 620-750nm. Our experimental value falls within the range of uncertainty here. According to this data, the bandwidth (range of frequencies) of visible light can be calculated by taking the wavelengths of the blue and red light and converting them into frequency. This is done by the following equation: 3 8 From blue light, we get 548.45 THz, and from red we get 400 THz. Since the actual range of visible light is 668-484 THz, our lower range is off.

Conclusion
The main purpose of this lab was to investigate some of the wavelight properties of light. First, we found the detector response, and calculated the relation of cm/V. Then we observed double slit diffraction. We first compared a experimental double slit spacing to its actual value. Our value, 0.122mm, fell within an acceptable range of the actual value, 0.125mm. Then, we took a slide with unknown slit spacing and calculated what it should be, 0.350mm. Next, we took a diffraction grating and attempted to find the visible wavelengths of light. Our experimental range turned out to be 624- 795nm. This is off from the real range of 420-750nm, and may be due to measuring errors.