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Everything about Diffraction
Interference phenomenon of waves
Diffraction is the deviation of waves from straight-line propagation due to an obstacle or through an aperture, without any change in their energy. Diffraction is the same physical effect as interference, but interference is typically used for the superposition of a few waves, while the term diffraction is used when many waves are superposed. The term diffraction pattern is used to refer to an image or map of the different directions of the waves after they have been diffracted. Diffraction patterns are pronounced when a wave from a coherent source encounters a slit/aperture as shown in the first image. Wikipedia →
🧠Start here: a 6-step reading path
- Read the overview: DiffractionA 5-minute orientation
- Skim a recent paper: X-ray Diffraction Techniques for Mineral Characterization: A Review for Engineers of the Fundamentals, Applications, and Research DirectionsInfluential work since 2022
- Pick up a classic book: Standard x-ray diffraction powder patternsThe most-reprinted book on the subject
- Read the landmark paper: Recent advances in magnetic structure determination by neutron powder diffractionCited 15,365 times
- Go sideways: Fraunhofer diffractionA closely related topic
- Go sideways: Diffraction from slitsA closely related topic
đź“– Definitions
Noun The bending of a wave around an obstacle.
Noun The breaking up of an electromagnetic wave as it passes a geometric structure (e.g. a slit), followed by reconstruction of the wave by interference.
🏆 Landmark papers (most cited)
Recent advances in magnetic structure determination by neutron powder diffraction
Sub-diffraction-limit imaging by stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy (STORM)
Tables of bond lengths determined by X-ray and neutron diffraction. Part 1. Bond lengths in organic compounds
Breaking the diffraction resolution limit by stimulated emission: stimulated-emission-depletion fluorescence microscopy
Plasmonics beyond the diffraction limit
Sub-Diffraction-Limited Optical Imaging with a Silver Superlens
Diffraction-free beams
Line profiles of neutron powder-diffraction peaks for structure refinement
🆕 Influential since 2022
X-ray Diffraction Techniques for Mineral Characterization: A Review for Engineers of the Fundamentals, Applications, and Research Directions
The use of X-ray diffraction peak profile analysis to determine the structural parameters of cobalt ferrite nanoparticles using Debye-Scherrer, Williamson-Hall, Halder-Wagner and Size-strain plot: Different precipitating agent approach
Fast growth of single-crystal covalent organic frameworks for laboratory x-ray diffraction
PDF-5+: a comprehensive Powder Diffraction File™ for materials characterization
Double-slit time diffraction at optical frequencies
đź“š Books worth reading
- 📕Standard x-ray diffraction powder patternsMarlene C. Morris · 1976
OpticeJohn Conduitt · 1704- 📕Standard X-ray diffraction powder patternsUnited States. National Bureau of Standards. · 1953
Advances in X-Ray AnalysisWilliam M. Mueller · 1775- 📕The interpretation of X-ray diffraction photographsN. F. M. Henry · 1951
Two-dimensional X-ray DiffractionBob B. He · 2009
Elements of X-ray diffractionB. D. Cullity · 1956
Theory of X-ray diffraction in crystalsWilliam H. Zachariasen · 1945
Ranked by number of editions on Open Library, a rough measure of how lasting a book is.
đź”— Related topics
- Fraunhofer diffraction 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 from slits Diffraction processes affecting waves are amenable to quantitative description and analysis. Such treatments are applied to a wave passing through one…
- Fraunhofer diffraction equation In optics, the Fraunhofer diffraction equation is used to model the diffraction of waves when the diffraction pattern is viewed at a long distance from…
- Diffraction grating In optics, a diffraction grating is a grating with a periodic structure of appropriate scale so as to diffract light, or another type of electromagnetic…
- Bragg's law In many areas of science, Bragg's law – also known as Wulff–Bragg's condition or Laue–Bragg interference – is a special case of Laue diffraction that gives…
- Wavelength In physics and mathematics, wavelength or spatial period of a wave or periodic function is the distance over which the wave's shape repeats. In other words…
- Fresnel diffraction In optics, the Fresnel diffraction equation for near-field diffraction is an approximation of the Kirchhoff–Fresnel diffraction that can be applied to…
- Huygens–Fresnel principle The Huygens–Fresnel principle (named after Dutch physicist Christiaan Huygens and French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel) states that every point on a…