preprint

Dynamic transition between Fresnel and Fraunhofer diffraction patterns - a lecture

experiment
Maciej Lisicki, Ludmila Buller, Michal Oszmaniec, and Krzysztof Wojtowicz

arXiv:0803.0120v2 [physics.optics] 22 Apr 2009

Faculty of Physics, Warsaw University, Hoza 69, 00-681 Warsaw, Poland

(Dated: April 22, 2009)
A simple method for presenting a dynamic transition between Fresnel and Fraunhofer diffraction
zones is considered. Experiments are conducted on different apertures and diffraction patterns
are photographed at various distances between the screen and the aperture. A diverging lens is
introduced into the experimental setup to provide enlarged Fresnel diffraction patterns. Fresnel
and Fraunhofer diffraction patterns and dynamic transition between them can be easily obtained
on a distance of few meters, what gives an opportunity to use our setup as a lecture experiment.
Photographs of transition for square aperture are shown and discussed.
PACS numbers: 42.25.Fx, 01.50.My, 42.79.Ag

I.

INTRODUCTION

Fresnel and Fraunhofer diffraction and shapes of

diffraction patterns appear as an important part of any
optics lecture, often accompanied by a presentation of
the phenomenon, but this includes only Fresnel or Fraunhofer diffraction on common and simple apertures. It is
mainly because these patterns can be easily calculated,
so that one can compare theoretical and experimental
results[1],[2],[3] . Plenty of articles have been devoted to
lecture demonstrations[4] or inexpensive student experiments on Fresnel[5],[6],[7] or Fraunhofer[8],[9] diffraction
comapring theoretical results with the obtained pattern.
Our aim is to show the rarely presented but very interesting effect: the dynamic transition between Fresnel and
Fraunhofer diffraction zones. It can provide an insight in
the changing pattern structure and breaking of the plane
wave approximation when approaching to the aperture.
We also present a method for preparing highquality
inexpensive apertures, more precise but easily accessible
version of method involving a laser printer[4],[10] .

II.

FRESNEL AND FRAUNHOFER

DIFFRACTION ZONES

Diffraction can be classified as Fresnel or Fraunhofer

(also called far field diffraction). In Fraunhofer diffraction the distance between the aperture and the screen is
large enough to treat the wavefront as planar. In Fresnel
diffraction the wavefront has to be treated as a curved
surface.
A simple criterion[3] may be formulated to assess
the these diffraction approximations. We consider a
monochromatic light source and assume that the phase of
the incident wave is the same at each point on the aperture. Denoting the characteristic size of the aperture by

Electronic
Electronic

address: mklis@fuw.edu.pl
address: moszm@okwf.fuw.edu.pl

d (i.e. its diameter), considering a point at a distance L

from the aperture and using light of wavelength , the
diffraction type can be described by a dimensionless parameter :
=

L
d2

(1)

Generally, when  1, we can use the Fraunhofer approximation. When 1, we have to use Fresnel approximation. For example, with = 1, = 650 nm
and an aperture with diameter of d = 1 mm, we can
estimate the distance as L 1.5 m. Thus the screen
should be perhaps 5L 7.5 m from the aperture to get
a proper Fraunhofer diffraction pattern. Obviously such
a large distance is difficult to achieve in a lecture hall or
classroom. On the other hand, Fresnel diffraction can be
observed for 1, so observing both types of diffraction
on the same aperture may be complicated - the Fresnel
image is very small and therefore it cannot be properly
demonstrated. It is even more difficult to show the transition between them over such a big distance - one would
have to move the aperture or the screen, what may cause
a considerable loss in picture quality.
Let us now consider what will be the qualitative influence of placing a diverging lens between the aperture
and the screen (see fig. 2). In order to do so we trace
a paraxial ray parallel to the optical axis. Note that after passing through the lens the ray will follow the path
shown in the figure. If we assume that the lens is thin
and that it is justifiable to use approximations of geometric optics, it is possible to derive an expression for
magnification rate M as

y
L
M=
= 1+
.
(2)
y0
|f |
Where: f - focal length of the lens, L - distance between
the lens and the screen, y, y0 - distances from the ray to
the optical axis on the screen and before coming through
the lens, respectively. M obviously exceeds 1. Although
the same reasoning cannot be repeated for any arbitrary
rays coming form the aperture, it is clear that the introduced diverging lens acts as a projector, effectively

2
magnifying the pattern created on its surface. Rays that
initially were close to the optical axis will be further from
it when they reach the screen.
Hence, by introducing a diverging lens into the experimental setup, we can get larger images from a small aperture in Fresnel regime. This eliminates the problem of
long distances and makes it possible to present dynamic
change of the pattern while moving the lens between the
aperture and the screen.

III.

EXPERIMENTAL SETUP

The experimental setup (fig. 1) consisted of He-Ne

laser (1) which was used as a monochromatic light source
(with wavelength = 650 nm), an aperture (2), the
screen (4), and a movable diverging lens (3) placed between the aperture and the screen. The screen was made
of semitransparent parchment, which allowed to observe
the back of the screen. It appears to be the best way to
observe the pattern and take photographs from behind
because then light goes straight into the camera (or human eyes) and the image is symmetrical. Any error in
the screen position or aperture adjustment would result
in disruption of the image. The main difference between
our setup and the standard one is the use of a movable
diverging lens. That allows to observe a transition between the two types of diffraction without moving the
screen or the aperture and ensures good quality images.
Thus, relatively small apertures (d 1 mm) could be
used in the experiment, that shifts the Fraunhofer zone
to closer distances. On the other hand, Fresnel pattern
was small, but this problem has been solved by using the
diverging lens to show magnified image on the screen.
The size was larger, although the brightness was lower.
We have used distances of about 3-5 meters. The lens
had to be relatively large. We have used one of focal
length f = 30 cm and diameter of about 10 cm.
One has to pay special attention to the preparation
of apertures. For homemade good-quality apertures one
can use a laser printer[4],[10] but for a more complicated
shapes the printer resolution is insufficient. Our apertures were obtained by exposing the aperture image (prepared in a vector graphics programme) on a transparent
foil with high resolution (in our case it was 4000 dpi).
The foil can be exposed in a photo laboratory, so the
aperture production is easily accessible and inexpensive.
The aperutre quality is considerably higer and computers provide us with a tool to construct new apertures by
varying their shapes and sizes.
In the context of showing the experiment to a wider
audience the best way to demonstrate the transition is to
put the video camera behind the screen and connect it to
a multimedia beamer. It provides big and sharp images,
what makes them accurate for demonstrating purpose.

IV.

DIFFRACTION IMAGES

The successive photographs 3(a)-3(f) present images

of transition between Fresnel zone and quasi-Fraunhofer
diffraction pattern for a square aperture. It is not an
exact Fraunhofer image (for this, we would need bigger
distances) but the image obtained at maximal possible
distance does not differ significantly from the far-field
image. That has been checked by placing the screen even
further. The images were obtained by moving the lens
from the aperture towards the screen.
The photographs have inverted colours to make the
structures more visible, so the brighter areas in the photographs correspond to the darker zones in the real image. The photograph 3(a) presents a typical Fresnel
diffraction image[1] . The grid-like structure inside a
square is due to the bending of light rays on the borders of the aperture. There are lots of local minimums
and maximums of light intensity due to constructive and
destructive interference inside the square shape. Light
intensity rapidly decreases outside the square.
In the photograph 3(b) the number of gratings is
smaller. They are wider and we can also observe that
the structure of the image changes - it still shows the
symmetries, but the light intensity outside the square
does not decrease rapidly.
In the image 3(c) we can observe the formation of a
cross. Image 3(d) shows clearer cross-like structure, both
outside and inside. We can clearly see that two bright
stripes get closer to merge completely in image 3(e).
The blurred structure in the middle of the picture is
due to the fact that the centre of the image is much
brighter than the other regions and during a long exposure time it receives much more light. We are now
two-thirds of a way from the aperture to the screen. The
limbs are clearly visible and we can also see their subtle structure - fringes. Placing the lens very close to the
screen or completely removing it, we get an image similar
to 3(f).
This is a classical Fraunhofer diffraction image. The
limbs consist of clear fringes, and their intensity does
not decrease rapidly as we recede from the central point.
Also the regions between the limbs have an interesting
structure, shown in figure 4. The whole image conserves
the symmetries of the aperture. The structure of these regions is predicted by the theoretical description of Fraunhofer diffraction. We can look at this image as a product
of two single slit diffraction patterns, as described in various textbooks[1],[2] .
All the photographs were taken with the use of a digital reflex camera. As the light intensity on the screen
rapidly decreases with the distance between the aperture
and the lens, photographs have been taken at various
exposure times, up to 20 seconds. The images can be
clearly seen by a naked eye but applying several exposure times allowed to investigate different parts of the
image (the pattern is very bright in the middle but dark
at the borders, so to see the darker regions we use the

3
SLR camera).

V.

CONCLUSIONS

We have presented an experimental setup that allows

to show a dynamic transition between Fresnel and Fraunhofer diffraction. Thanks to the use of a diverging lens
we were able to observe both types of diffraction on the
same aperture in a relatively small setup, which makes it
particularly useful for lecture demonstrations.
Moreover, making new apertures is easy and available to almost everyone. It can be an interesting experiment to investigate transition patterns for common
shape apertures, like slits or circular holes, as well as for
more complicated ones. One can also consider symmetries of diffraction images and their connection with the
geometry of apertures.
The presented images are only to show that it is possible to obtain high-quality diffraction images in school

[1] E. Hecht, Optics, 4th ed. (Addison Wesley, 2002), Fraunhofer diffraction on a square aperture pp. 464467, Fresnel diffraction on a square p. 499.
[2] H. J. Pain, Physics of Vibrations and Waves, 6th ed.
(Wiley, 2005), pp. 377386.
[3] F. S. Crawford, Waves, Berkeley Physics Course, (McGraw - Hill, 1968), pp. 457488.
[4] J. van der Gacht, Simple method for demonstrating
Fraunhofer Diffraction, Am. J. Phys 62, pp. 934937,
(1994).
[5] P. A. Young, Student experiment in Fresnel Diffraction,
Am. J. Phys 32, 367369 (1964).
[6] L. A. Sanderman, R. S. Bradford, A Simple Fresnel
Diffraction Experiment, Am. J. Phys 17, 514 (1949).
[7] A. L. Moen, D. L. Vander Meulen, Fresnel Diffraction
using a HeNe Gas Laser, Am. J. Phys 38, 10951097
(1970).
[8] M. J. Moloney, W. Meeks, Experiment in Fraunhofer
Diffraction Using a Triangular Aperture, Am. J. Phys.
42, 696698 (1974).
[9] R. B. Hoover, Diffraction Plates for Classroom Demonstrations, Am. J. Phys. 37, 871876 (1969).
[10] S. J. Van Hook, Inquiry with Laser Printer Diffraction
Gratings, Phys. Teach. 45, pp. 340343 (2007).
[11] J. Uozumi, K.-E. Peiponen, M. Savolainen, R. Silvennoinen and T. Asakura, Demonstration of diffraction by
fractals, Am. J. Phys 62, 283285 (1994).
[12] A collection of Fraunhofer and Fresnel diffraction images, obtained at varoius distances from the aperture using the method described in the article:
www.fuw.edu.pl/~mklis/diff.html.

conditions, but the real transition is much more attractive to see. One can observe the dynamic changes of
structure, the exact process of image formation.
More of our diffraction images obtained using the described method, including diffraction on simple shapes
(ie. multiple circular dots in various configurations)
and also fractal apertures like Sierpi
nski gasket or Koch
curve[11] , are available on the Internet[12] .

Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge M.Sc.

Stanislaw
Lipi
nski from XIV Stanislaw Staszic High School in Warsaw for fruitful discussions and advice in preparing the
experiments, Ph.D. Piotr Kossacki, Ph.D. Piotr Szymczak and Ph.D. Przemek Olbratowski from Warsaw University for consultations and Maciej Zielenkiewicz for
help in making the apertures.

Figure 1: Scheme of the experimental setup.

Figure 2: Geometry of the setup.

Figure 3: Successive photographs of transition between Fresnel and Fraunhofer diffraction patterns.

Figure 4: Subtle structure of the inter-limbs regions - beautiful example of Fraunhofer diffraction image.