A Report on Young’s Double Slit Experiment and Single Slit Diffraction

Experiment

Deepak Kumar Singh1, Prachi Singh2, Prakriti Singh3, Saloni Kumari Singh4

1.2.3.4 : Class 12 D, Hill Top School, Jamshedpur.

INTRODUCTION

Photons or particle of matter (like an election) produce a wave pattern when two
slits are used.

In modern physics, the double-slit experiment is a demonstration that light and

matter can display characteristics of both classically defined waves and particles;
moreover, it displays the fundamentally probabilistic nature of quantum
mechanical phenomena. The original experiment was performed by Davisson and
Germer in 1927.

In May 1801, while pondering some of Newton’s experiment Young came up with
the famous idea for now-famous double slit experiment. His experiment was part
of classical physics, well before quantum mechanics and the concept of wave-
particle duality. He believed it demonstrated that the wave theory of light was
correct, and his experiment is sometimes referred to as Young’s experiment or
Young’s slits.

The experiment belongs to a general class of “double path” experiments, in which

a wave is split into two separate waves that later combine into a single wave.
Changes in the path lengths of both waves result in a phase shift, creating an
interference pattern. Another version is the Mach-Zehnder interferometer, which
splits the beam with a mirror.

In the first version of the experiment, Young actually didn’t use two slits, but
rather a single thin card . He covered a window with a piece of paper with a tiny
hole in it. A thin beam of light passed through this hole. He held the card in the
light beam, splitting the beam in two. Light passing on one side of the card
interfered with light from the other side of the card to create fringes, which
Young observed on the opposite wall.
Young also used this data to calculate the wavelengths of different colors of light,
coming very close to modern values.

In November 1801 Young presented his paper, titled “On the theory of light and
color” to the Royal Society in that lecture, he described interference of light
waves and the slit experiment. He also presented an analogy with sound waves
and with water waves, and even developed a demonstration wave tank to show
interference patterns in water.

INTERFERENCE AND DIFFRACTION

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. A diffraction pattern is also
seen in the double-slit image, but at twice the intensity and with the addition of
many smaller interference fringes.

If light consisted strictly of ordinary or classical particles, and these particles were
fired in a straight line through a slit and allowed to strike a screen on the other
side, we would expect to see a pattern corresponding to the size and shape of the
slit. However, when this “single-slit experiment” is actually performed, the
pattern on the screen is a diffraction pattern in which the light is spread out. The
smaller the slit, the greater the angle of spread. The top portion of the image
shows the central portion of the pattern formed when a red laser illuminates a slit
and, if one looks carefully, two faint side bands. More bands can be seen with a
more highly refined apparatus. Diffraction explains the pattern as being the result
of the interference of light waves from the slit.

If one illuminates two parallel slits, the light from the two slits again interferes.
Here the interference is a more pronounced pattern with a series of alternating
light and dark bands. The width of the bands is a property of the frequency of the
illuminating light[15] (See the bottom photograph to the right.) When Thomas
Young (1773-1829) first demonstrated this phenomenon, it indicated that light
consists of waves, as the distribution of brightness can be explained by the
alternately additive and subtractive interference of wave fronts. [3] Young’s
experiment, performed in the early 1800s, played a vital part in the acceptance of
the wave theory of light, vanquishing the corpuscular theory of light proposed by
Isaac Newton, which had been the accepted model of light propagation in the 17 th
and 18th centuries.

However, the later discovery of the photoelectric effect demonstrated that under
different circumstances, light can behave as if it is composed of discrete particles.
These seemingly contradictory discoveries made it necessary to go beyond
classical physics and take the quantum nature of light into account.

Feynman was fond of saying that all of the quantum mechanics can be gleaned
from carefully thinking through the implications of this single experiment. [16] He
also proposed (as a thought experiment) that if detectors were placed before
each slit, the interference pattern would disappear. [17]

A low-intensity double-slit experiment was first performed by G. I Taylor in 1909,

[18] by reducing the level of incident light until photon emission/absorption
events were mostly non overlapping. A double-slit experiment was not performed
with anything other than light until [96], when Claus Jonsson of the University of
Tubingen performed it with electron beams. [19][20] in 1974, the Italian physicists
Pier Giorgio Merli, Gian Franco Missiroli, and Giulio Pozzi repeated the
experiment using single elections and biprism (instead of slits), showing that each
electron interferes with itself as predicted by quantum theory, [21][22] in 2002,
the single-electron version of the experiment was voted “the most beautiful
experiment” by readers of Physics World. [23]

EXPERIMENTAL SETUP

Light from a narrow-slit S, illuminated by a monochromatic source, to allowed to

fall on two narrow slits. A and B placed very close to each other. The width of
each slit is about 0.03 mm and they are about 0.3 mm apart. Since A and B are
equidistant from S, light waves from S reach A and B in phase. So A and B acts as
coherent sources.

According to Huygen’s principle, wavelets from A and B spread out and

overlapping takes place to the right side of AB. When a screen XY is placed at a
distance of about 1 meter from the slits, equally spaced alternate bright and dark
fringes appear on the screen. These are called interference fringes or bands.
Using an eyepiece the fringes can be seen directly. At P on the screen, waves from
A and B travel equal distances and arrive in phase. These two waves
constructively interfere and bright fringe is observed at P. This is called central
bright fringe.

When one of the slits is covered, the fringes disappear and there is uniform
illumination on the screen. This shows clearly that the bands are due to
interference.

Let d be the distance between two coherent sources A and B of wavelength A. A

screen XY is placed parallel to AB at a distance D from the coherent sources. C is
the midpoint of AB. O is a point on the screen equidistant from A and B. P is a
point at a distance x from O, as shown in figure. Waves from A and B meet at P in
phase or out of phase depending upon the path difference between two waves.
OBSERVATION

INTERFERENCE

Interference by experimental setup

When the source and the slit is kept 30cm apart and the screen and the screen
and the slit is at a distance 80cm apart, a sharp, a sharp interference pattern is
observed. The pattern observed has fine fringe formed. The dark and the bright
fringes are of equal width. The pattern observed is depicted through this image.

Interference by simulation

Page 1
I. The pattern of regular bright and dark fringe is obtained on the screen
when the two wave superimpose.
II. The fringes formed in the centre are of uniform width.
III. It is found that the fringes at the extremities were a little elongated than
that formed in the middle.
IV. As we increased the slit width by 0.5cm, the marked change in the
pattern is observed. The fringe width gets on decreasing.
V. The difference between the widths with slit separation 1000nm to that
of separation of 4000nm.
VI. The intensity is unaffected by the change in the slit width or with the
distance from the centre.

Page 2
I. The pattern is same as the previously done experiment.
II. The only difference marked is the decrease in the fringe width as
compared to the page

Page 3
 I. The pattern is same as the previously done experiment.
II. The only difference marked is the decrease in the fringe width as
compared to the page 2 in all cases (slit separation).

Page 4

I. The pattern is same as the previously done experiment.

II. The only difference marked is the decrease in the fringe width as
compared to the page 3 in all cases (slit separation).

Page 5
 I. The pattern is same as the previously done experiment.
II. The only difference marked is the decrease in the fringe width as
compared to the page 4 in all cases (slit separation).
III. compared to the page 4 in all cases (slit separation).

Page 6
 I. The pattern is same as the previously done experiment.
II. The only difference marked is the decrease in the fringe width as
compared to the page 5 in all cases (slit separation).

Page 7
 I. The pattern is same as the previously done experiment.
II. The only difference marked is the decrease in the fringe width as
compared to the page 6 in all cases (slit separation).
III. The minimum fringe width is observed in this case.

ANALYSIS

INTERFERENCE

By experimentation, it is found that there are fringes formed and the fringe width
for either case are of exactly equal length.
By simulation, it is found that as increase the slit width, the fringe width
decreases for all cases keeping the distance between the screen and the slit
constant. Therefore, if β be the fringe width and d is the slit width then

β=1/d

On using different monochromatic coherent source of light, the fringe width

keeps on increasing. The largest is that of the red light, therefore the wavelength
of red light is maximum. Hence if ω is the wavelength of the light used then

β=ω

Therefore, we deduce the relation between the fringe widths as,

β =(ω.D)/d

Further,

On bringing a glass filled with water, the central fringe is shifted depending open
the refractive index(μ) of the medium and the thickness in case of glass slab.

On bringing a medium of refractive index (μ), the fringe width decreases by the
relation

β ‘= β /μ

Where β is the new fringe width

The shift in the fringe width is given by the relation

γ =((nω)-( μ-1)t).D)/d

(n ω -(μ-1)t) shows the shift of the central fringe

Where

ω =wavelength of the light used

μ-refractive index of the medium

t=thickness of the medium

CONCLUSION

The experiment concludes that light travels as a wave (wave nature of light). They
form wave fronts and every particle in the makes up secondary wavelet
originating secondary wave fronts. These waves superimpose to form pattern.
The regions of dark and bright spots are formed due to redistribution of energy.

The following tables demonstrate the difference between the two phenomenon.

Interference
1. It is obtained due to
superposition of waves from
different coherent sources.
2. The bright dark and all interfering
fringes are of equal width.
3. All bright fringes are of equal
intensity.
4. Dark bands are perfectly dark.
Diffraction
1. It is obtained due to
superposition of waves from
different parts of the same wave
fronts.
2. Diffraction fringes are not of
same width. A Central maximum
is the largest while the width of
maxima and minima decreases
for higher order of diffraction.
3. Central maxima have the highest
intensity and it decreases with
higher order of maxima.
4. Region of minimum intensity may
not be perfectly dark.

FUTURE SCOPE
The diffraction and interference of light played essential role in the development
of optics as they helped establish that light is an electromagnetic wave. These
effects are also important in many technologies based on optics and photonics.
For example, diffraction is commonly used to measure the size of a small object or
small holes, and is also an important aspect to consider when designing optical
microscopes and imaging systems. Measurement of optical interference can be
used for precision measurement of distances (such as those between light source
or mirrors) and have found applications ranging from machining, geology, and
astronomy (such as in the LIGO project that detected gravitational waves.
ABSTRACT

This investigatory project deals with the dual nature of light i.e, both particle and
wave nature of light .The phenomenon of diffraction and interference are
explained using the famous Youngs’ double slit experiment.

For observing the interference,a light source is passed though a double slit
contraption and by changing the affecting factors different patterns are
obtained .The patterns are also observed when a single slit is taken.

This helped us to differentiate between the two phenomenon and also clearly
understand the changes (in wave pattern) that take place on changing the
wavelength and hence the colour of the wave.