Diffraction Pattern Calculator

A plane wave incident on a point scatterer, which is an object smaller than the wavelength, will produce a secondary spherical wave originating from the scattering object. In the case of an array of scatterers with regular spacing between elements, these spherical secondary waves interfere and create sharp interference maxima. The combined outgoing wave is reinforced in certain directions, called diffraction peaks.

Diffraction Pattern Calculator is a program designed to calculate the first eight angles of the diffraction peaks for a given set of input values. Users can define the spacing between the point scatterers, the angle of the incident wave relative to the normal and the wavelength of the incident wave.

The application can be used to calculate diffraction angles when dealing with a diffraction grating, which is a single layer of periodic scatterers, as well as a Bragg grating, which consists of multiple layers of periodic scatterers.

To get started with the utility, you will need to define the three required parameters: spacing, angle and wavelength. The results will be displayed in two columns, one for the diffraction grating angle and one for the Bragg scattering angle. Depending on the input values, not all eight angles may be calculated.