An Analysis of Interference as a Source for Diffraction

Abstract

An analysis is made of interference of two plane waves which in turn give rise to subsequent diffraction phenomena. This is done using two different approaches. One of them is straight forward but is difficult to interpret. The second is less conventional but more intuitive thus giving more insight into the process. The geometry is kept very simple to focus on the process itself. Both approaches give rise to the same results thus offering a choice in tackling such prob-lems.