Diffraction and Imaging

This Teaching and Learning Package presents a brief summary of diffraction and imaging, using an optical system. The analogies to X-ray and electron diffraction make knowledge of optical diffraction key to understanding the behaviour. Diffraction plays a useful part in materials science, with such applications as the determination of crystal structure and the study of dislocation lines.

• Aims
• Before you start
• Introduction
• Diffraction patterns 1
• Diffraction patterns 2
• Two-dimensional diffraction
• Image formation
• Information obtained from diffraction pattern
• Applications of the theory of optical diffraction and imaging
• Summary
• Questions
• Going further

Begin

First created: April 2004. "Going further" updated: January 2008