Diffraction
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Diffraction refers to various phenomena which occur when a wave encounters an obstacle or a slit. It is defined as the bending of light around the corners of an obstacle or aperture into the region of geometrical shadow of the obstacle. In classical physics, the diffraction phenomenon is described as the interference of waves according to the Huygens–Fresnel principle. These characteristic behaviors are exhibited when a wave encounters an obstacle or a slit that is comparable in size to its wavelength. Similar effects occur when a light wave travels through a medium with a varying refractive index, or when a sound wave travels through a medium with varying acoustic impedance. Diffraction occurs with all waves, including sound waves, water waves, and electromagnetic waves such as visible light, X-rays and radio waves.
See also
- Angle-sensitive pixel
- Atmospheric diffraction
- Bragg diffraction
- Brocken spectre
- Cloud iridescence
- Diffraction formalism
- Diffraction grating
- Diffraction limit
- Diffraction vs. interference
- Diffractometer
- Dynamical theory of diffraction
- Electron diffraction
- Fraunhofer diffraction
- Fresnel diffraction
- Fresnel imager
- Fresnel number
- Fresnel zone
- Neutron diffraction
- Prism
- Powder diffraction
- Refraction
- Schaefer–Bergmann diffraction
- Thinned array curse
- X-ray scattering techniques
- Coherent diffraction imaging
